Pace Forks / Chris King Headset Query...

[dronebox]

Now then... For my first project I'm restoring an 1995 Orange E3 that I've owned from new. I had the Pace RC35 MXCD forks off and had them serviced by justbackdated who did a terrific job. On refitting them I noticed that the old Dia-Compe Aheadset was a bit pitted so looked around for a replacement and picked up a pre-loved but in excellent condition Chris King 1" Nothreadset...

Not having the appropriate headset removal or pressing tools I took this to my local bike emporium and asked them to remove the existing Dia-Compe and fit the Chris King in it's place. Stack height was almost the same so no steerer tube length issues...

I thought this would be more or less a straight swap but bike shop geezer tells me that the baseplate (bit that slips over the steerer tube and sits against the fork crown) doesn't seem as secure as it should be and that he's used Loctite to secure it. This doesn't sound quite right to me? I thought that the baseplate should be a tight (interference) fit on the steerer otherwise there's going to be play in the forks that Loctite isn't going to hold for more than a few minutes?

I'm wondering whether there was a shim on the original and he's removed this along with the baseplate of the original headset?

Anyone with any thoughts on this issue? I don't want to ride out if things are not what they are supposed to be.

Cheers all

 

[bonkersbuilder]

Hi Most of my pace forks have a machined alloy spacer to take the steerer tube up to headset size as you sugested,
did the lbs chuck the old headset ?
if not i think you may need to get back onto justbackdated for a new one,
regards
Darren

 

[nathanman]

The bearing race should fit tight to the steerer tube, i've never had one that didn't so have never tried loctite so cant comment if it will work.

 

[dronebox]

Thanks for the input... I doubt Loctite will secure the part and if it moves when ridden it'll get trashed for sure... I'll measure up and contact jbd for a replacement thing... Ho-hum... Would have thought my local bike shop would have known better but at least they told me what they'd done rather than me not knowing then having it work loose miles from home...

 

[D_XZ]

The shim probably came off with the old headset. Locktite won't hold and probably isn't centred accurately either.

 

[dronebox]

Panic over... I removed the forks and everything looks normal... I must have misunderstood what bike shop dude was telling me. There's no play, the shim seems to be in place and the baseplate is a tight fit on the steerer near the crown.. Phew...

Apologies... I should have stripped the fork and taken a look before posting... My bad :-(