Gary12000 

Ok chaps,
I am about to install some thread less forks on to a vintage ish bike early 90’s, I don’t really want a black finish headset so a silver finish is preferred and some matching spacers, I’ve looked on the Bay as a reference point, and prices are all over the place from an NOS Campagnolo for close to $300 to a $20.00 no name headset from a foreign country... so i do know that I need a true one inch threadless with bearing and associated seals..

any advice on a good solid brand?.. and if I’m going to spend Chris King money I may as well buy the NOS campy one... the bike is full campy currently.

after I solve that part then I will need a replacement stem also in silver finish, I want to retain my bars so they are cinelli 1 inch diameter drop style so advice on a vintage looking but yet threadless system I’ve seen that Velo- orange has something similar in 1&1/8 steerer tube size but I have a true one inch fork steerer
Anyone selling something please message me ...
thanks in advance..

Gary

79pmooney

Not an answer to your question but I have a Chris King installed by the framebuilder on my 2008 TiCycles that has 16,000 miles and I have done absolutely zero with it. Steering no-hands is still right on perfect. (It's anodized red so not at all what you are looking for.) Steerer is 1" steel. Ti spacers and ti stem. Silver Nitto bars.

3alarmer 

.
...it's very difficult to source 1" threadless stuff these days. Even in the used parts stream, not a lot of it was made, because most stuff was getting made with 1 1/8th sterrers by the time threadless came into vogue. FSA still makes and sells a 1" threadless in both black and silver at prices mere mortals can assume. Here is an ebay link, but other sources sell them. The only other ones I know of that are not overpriced come in black only, like Henry ford envisioned.

The stem workaround most commonly used is to buy a 1 1/8 " threadless stem, in the exact finish and length you require, and them shim it on the steerer tube. The shims are commonly available from a number of sources. Anywa, thta's how I have done it in the past. and I have access to a bike co-op, with a huge supply of used and castoff stems. You won't come up with what you need in a 1" threadless stem in length, angle, and color without some minor miracle.

unworthy1

as noted they (both HS and stems) are not that easy to find, especially in sliver. I have found and used Cane Creek 1" threadless, (as well as the "original Aheadset" brand which I believe also is same mfgr as Cane Creek) FSA and some Chinese brands. Most of the Cane Creeks have been black finish, same with FSA. One of the Chinese brands I bought is "Neco" but have found them sold with no branding and appear from the same source.
Those do have real sealed cartridge bearings, ALU cups and a split crown race, but you have to shop carefully to make sure the cups are the diameter you need, etc. Again more common in black finish but I have found silver online (try AliExpress if you have no qualms about buying from them).
I find the quality to be "OK" out of the box (or bag) but only time will tell how well they hold up, they certainly are priced lower than the "USA" name-branded products (which are often made in Asia)..
Shipping to West Coast from a Chinese vendor can be very, very slow, YMMV.
As for a 1" threadless stem I have hoarded them when I find any, but also hard to source and they often were originally fitted to early Mtn bike forks so not always the style you'd want for a road bike. One of the hold-outs was Keith Bontrager who spec'd 1" steerers on his frames well past when the fashion had changed to 1.125", my only advice is to scour the ebay ads and swap meets, if you can.

wesmamyke 

The stuff is out there, cyclocross bikes and some MTB stuff used 1" threadless. Stems seem to be the hardest to find for me.

IRD semi recently made a 1" threadless headset, but I wouldn't recommend them. Could not get the one I had adjusted, switched to a FSA that works great.

FSA headset available in silver: https://www.ebay.com/itm/20266751851...wAAOSw8SdeLVsx

3T stem in silver: https://www.ebay.com/itm/30402370999...oAAOSwod9gtZeR

Gary12000 

Those few posts help a lot, I didn’t know if FSA was a decent brand for a headset so I have more than one bike so I’ll expect to do 2-3000 miles per year on this headset, and as far as the stem I wondered if i would have to shim a 1&1/8 which as long as it work and is safe I’m ok with… you guys please forgive me but threadless is new to me… I guess there will be a void after I have shimmed and when I put the top cap that the bolt goes through and I screw into the star nut …? meaning I’m not trying to shim it to clamp on the steerer tube perfectly am I ?

CliffordK

I can't imagine how one could shim the frame cups from 1" to 1 1/8". The frame cups must be either 30.0mm or 30.2mm, and it would take come creative shimming to get a 34mm cup to fit.

CliffordK

I have a Ritchey Scuzzy Logic Pro 1" threadless on one bike that I like. Available a couple of years ago. I think all I see now are the Fuzzy Logic headsets.

I think the difference is the Scuzzy is sealed bearing, and the Fuzzy is open bearing.



I might try the Cane Creek on E-Bay.

Gary12000 

The part I understood to shim is the 1& 1/8 stem onto the 1 inch threadless fork steerer not the bearing cups for headset to frame those will have to be one inch.

wesmamyke 

The stem shim is totally fine, some stems even come with the shim. It takes a little playing around with spacers some times to make it work. Or cutting the shim to the exact height of your stem and using 1" spacers.

bulgie 

I think a "thread less" headset is one with less threads — not the same as "threadless"!

Here's a humorous ad for a "less thread" headset from the late-'80s (I think):


Makes it "stornger"! Not "weakly day by day and broken off"!

Despite the "Engrish as a second language" problems, it's actually a good idea. I have used a DIY version of it a few times, like when I had a threaded fork that was way too long for the frame. The following two pics are indoor-trainer bikes for me and the wife, built on frames we got for free, too small but tall fork steerers and tall stems got the bars up where we needed them. Note you need two threaded nuts at the top, to have a jam-nut for the top nut to tighten against. Below the spacers it's just a regular threadless headset, one a Chris King and the other a CK lookalike from FSA, called "Orbit" I think, low cost but pretty good.




I used thin headset nuts that tighten with a hook-spanner. Not a common part anymore but they came on cheap Japanese bikes in the '70s. You could also take most any headset nut and remove the flange that prevents it from threading down past the top of the steerer. A few (very few) top nuts came without that flange, or the flange was replaced by a removable rubber gasket, so maybe search for one of those.

This could also be done with a totally threadless fork, if you are willing to have a better bike shop or machinist put about 15 to 20 mm of threads on the end, for the two locknuts. The only reason you'd want to do that is if you are married to the quill-stem thing. Most people would say putting threads on a threadless fork is a step backwards in technology. Plus watch out, a few 1" threadless forks used a thinner-wall steerer for light weight. Thinner wall means a bigger inside diameter, so those are not compatible with a quill stem. A 7/8" (22.2 mm) stem will flop around in there and not tighten.

Mark B

nathand

Don't know if this helps, but here's a photo of the spacers on one of my bikes that has a 1" threadless fork and headset. I'm cheap and didn't care about matching colors (and the orange CK headset came with the frame). The bottom aluminum spacers are 1". The narrow black band above that is the lip on the 1 1/8 to 1 shim, which goes around the 1" fork, and then the 1 1/8" stem sits around that shim resting on the lip. The top of the steerer tube protrudes just slightly above the top of the stem. The top spacer (1 1/8") ensures that the top cap presses on the stack of spacers and stem, not on the steerer tube. I found the shim at the local bike co-op.

3alarmer 

...it's safe, and done all the time. Not sure where you envision the void ? The shims are pretty solidly machined, they slip over the top of the steerer, and the stem slips on over that. some of them have a collar on them, some don't. For proper installation, there's no void. You figure out how much steerer you want to keep, and fill the space between the shim and the top race of the headset with spacers, so you can preload the bearings using the top cap. then you tighten the stem to the steerer (with the shim inside it), and you're done.

I guess there is a small void where the shim ends don't quite meet together, but it's small and of mno consequence.

Gary12000 

Thanks for the info guys.. ordered an FSA orbit last night $38 incl tax and free shipping … I hope the internal diameter of my fork steerer and the new cups have the correct interference fit… I went off on a tangent researching different standards of fit apparently there are three versions BMX, MTB, and roadbike but that’s not what the standards are called that’s my version of how I think they came about …my brain is overloaded with info lol I think it was JIS, Anyway I decided to just buy what I thought would work .. and now onto the stem which will likely need a shim…

nazcalines

I like the Nitto/fairweather 1" threadless stem. Available from blue lug. I think it's the MT-31