I recently purchased a used Shimano 600 (HP6500) cartridge bearing headset from a forum member and it appears to have included the incorrect size fork crown race. Very excited to complete this build (Cannondale I repainted for my girlfriend for x-mas) but this has brought me to a screeching halt.

I pulled a few other forks from my different bikes to try and their races also seemed to be too small for this headset. I haven't ever run into this issue and it seems simple but is making me feel pretty dumb.

Anybody know what crown race I need for the 600 headset?

Here is the headset for reference.


And the catalog page.
https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830609006.pdf

Alex, that catalog page shows two crown race options: 26.4 and 27.0mm (part #7). Sounds like you got the smaller and need the larger. I have some 27.0mm races in the parts drawer, but I don't know if they'd fit that particular headset.

Neal

JIS vs. ISO perhaps?

Scott

ISO=26.4mm JIS=27.0mm you need a 27.0mm crown race.

Are you saying the race appears too small for the headset, or that the race is too small for the fork crown?

Sorry to clarify. It fits the fork perfectly but the od is too large and the bearing cartridge doesn't seat down onto it.

It would seem your only solution is a donor headset because that race has to be just right for the cartridge bearing to seat properly. You'll be better off just using a decent Tange or equivalent headset. You could always sell what's left of the 600 headset as parts.

Are you sure it's the race and the PO didn't swap out to an incorrect bearing?

Hard to tell. The two I have are identical and fit the cups perfectly but like I said I have limited experience swapping/removing headsets and this is my first time running into any sort of a compatibility issue.

Update. I brought the headset to my LBS to no avail. They told me since the headset is old tech. and no longer made, they couldn't help me find a proper race. I asked if they had any spares or anything they could try and they said no. Time to find a new LBS, this is the last straw from this place but its a shame because it was in walking distance. Guess I'll be driving/riding out to Harris from now on.

I found out that the 105 race was the same so I bought a NOS 105 headset and harvested its race. Now I have the NOS 105 cartridge headset with no race so the search continues for that race. Though this will be for a future build so the search is much less urgent.

If anybody comes up with a source, I'm all ears

figures.