Hey everyone,

I have a Canadian made CCM Silver Ghost that I brought back from the dead and ride every day. I know CCM's aren't the prettiest or most refined bikes as far as Classic and Vintage goes but it is unique, fun to ride and I love it. My problem is that someone in this bike's past seems to have tightened the crap out of the headset and severly pitted the races.

I tried replacing the headset with a standart 1 inch threaded unit but the fork crown race wouldn't stay put. It seems that the welded sleeve on the steer tube is slightly smaller in diameter than every other bike in the world. The original race went back on no problem so I don't think the sleeve is worn, just CCM size, perhaps.

Anyone ever run into this problem on a bike like this? Anyone happen to have an old CCM headset sitting in the garage? I'll trade you some french bottom bracket cups!

(cross posted in mechanics)

there are a number of diffrent inner diameters of crown race. Dont' remember the numbers off the top of my head, but sounds like you've got one of the smaller ones. some Tange headsets today come with a number of different crown races to account for this.

I probably have a few races from some ccms that have come and gone I could try sending you... dont think I have a complete old headset, at least any that look pretty.

CCM did not use a traditional crown race seat on the fork. They knurled the circumference of the bottom of the fork's steering column to marginally increase the diameter and give the crown race something to bite onto. Consequently, the crown race itself has a diameter that is just over 1"" (25.4mm). Measurements reveal a diameter of approximately 1.010" (25.7mm). The headset was manufactured by CCM. About the only boom era CCM that did not use the proprietary headset was the Tour Du Canada.

Thanks so much, all three of you. Every once and a while, I am reminded why the internet can be worth while.

T-Mar, the knurls on the steer tube you describe are exactly what I saw when I had the bike apart. I'll keep that 25.7 mm measurement in mind and check out the headsets cuda2k reccomends. Failing that, divineAndbright, I might have to take you up on that offer. The fork crown race is really the only seriously damaged peice of the headset, so if I deal with this problem now, this bike may well last another 30-40 years.

Thanks again, e-pals, I'll let you know how it all turns out.