Schwinn needing ICBM headset - shall I just forget it??!!

[dogmantra]

Re: Possible Source??

Hey all! My first post... I see I am reviving an old thread and I may live to regret this share because I'm not certain it will work out.

I recently picked up a 2000 Homegrown with ICBM. My local bike shop had nothing remotely workable and directed me to the eBay listing for a single unit available. I picked that up but it is located in China and will be a minimum of 3 weeks (and up to 6) before it arrives.

Not being super happy with that I went to Cane Creek and saw that they have bearing sets for this headset (but not full headset sets it seems). See this link for Cane Creek info:

https://canecreek.com/FAQ/ive-got-old-s ... -make-one/

I did order a set of ICBM bearings from them just out of curiosity.

Finally, I scanned my eBay listing for the the Chinese set and saw they are labeled as "Tange IS23". I gave that a good googling and ended up at a site for WooHoo Bikes. They are in Poland. I've never heard of them. But they have Tange-Seiki Technoglide IS23 fully-integrated headsets listed on their site. It's a hail mary effort, I know. But here they are:

http://woohoobikes.com/en/headsets/2421 ... adset.html

The Cane Creek bearings will be here in a week, the Polish set should be here in 2 weeks, and the set from China in 3 weeks. I'm hoping that between all these I get at least one workable set. I'll do my best to come back and report the success/failure of this mission.

 

[holycow]

Re:

Hey all, guess what? ALSO new here (but a long time lurker/info gatherer), and ALSO in need of an ICBM headset. My story is worse than the post right above mine, in that I sold a frame that takes an ICBM without knowing it. I purchased it for some of the parts hanging off of it, and then tried my hand at making a few dollars back, the whole time thinking it took a campy style press fit bearing. My bad. I care much less about the money, or being a bad ass ebay seller than I do a good member of the cycling community, of which I am first and foremost, so I'm doing my absolute best to make this right with my buyer. And now, guys and gals of retrobike, I need your help.

Any ideas?

Oh yeah, is there somewhere I should be introducing myself? Like I said, I've lurked on an off for a long time, and of all the bike related corners of the internet, I've always thought of yours as the most knowledgeable and respectable. Thanks in advance.

 

[holycow]

Re: Possible Source??

Hi Dogmantra, I'm in the same boat as you. Hopefully both our posts get some people's attention and the thread gets revived.

I've also periodically come across WooHoo's site, and I saw the Cane Creek 'solutions' page just before I found your post here. Have you received any of the parts you ordered yet? It seems like the HS from Poland is our ticket right?

Hey all! My first post... I see I am reviving an old thread and I may live to regret this share because I'm not certain it will work out.

I recently picked up a 2000 Homegrown with ICBM. My local bike shop had nothing remotely workable and directed me to the eBay listing for a single unit available. I picked that up but it is located in China and will be a minimum of 3 weeks (and up to 6) before it arrives.

Not being super happy with that I went to Cane Creek and saw that they have bearing sets for this headset (but not full headset sets it seems). See this link for Cane Creek info:

https://canecreek.com/FAQ/ive-got-old-s ... -make-one/

I did order a set of ICBM bearings from them just out of curiosity.

Finally, I scanned my eBay listing for the the Chinese set and saw they are labeled as "Tange IS23". I gave that a good googling and ended up at a site for WooHoo Bikes. They are in Poland. I've never heard of them. But they have Tange-Seiki Technoglide IS23 fully-integrated headsets listed on their site. It's a hail mary effort, I know. But here they are:

http://woohoobikes.com/en/headsets/2421 ... adset.html

The Cane Creek bearings will be here in a week, the Polish set should be here in 2 weeks, and the set from China in 3 weeks. I'm hoping that between all these I get at least one workable set. I'll do my best to come back and report the success/failure of this mission.

 

[dogmantra]

Re: Possible Source??

Hey Holycow,

I did get the replacement bearing set from cane Creek pretty quickly. They look like the slot into the ICBM cups just fine but I've not heard or received anything from either the China or Poland orders yet so I've no actual headset components to try and put it all together.

I have been staring at this frame for so long now. Some unconventional and non-pure thoughts are forming. Like, why couldn't I just machine/dremel away the bulk of the ICBM flanges and then press in a bearing set? I just recently put a CK headset in my kid's bike and regret not seeing how it interfaced with the ICBM flanges.

Short of someone out there having a headset kit that needs new bearings that I can grab I don't know what else to do. I think trying to mod the frame may be the direction I am heading if with Chinese/Polish headsets don't appear.

 

[holycow]

Re: Possible Source??

Hey Dogmantra, thanks for the update. Turns out my buyer was quite upset. I refunded him the bulk of the purchase price, so from here on out I'll be solving this mystery for my own amusement. I would love updates as you receive parts to see how far 'we' can get. If it works I wonder if it's worth ordering a few more for the next time this thread gets bumped?

As for trimming the HT....I wonder if there's a machinist out there who can weigh in on the best way to remove the material so it comes out dead flat? Masking tape, a dremel, a straight edge and some patience? The frame's as useless as it is now if it comes off crooked. Ha.

Again, thanks in advance for the updates. Cheers.

Hey Holycow,

I did get the replacement bearing set from cane Creek pretty quickly. They look like the slot into the ICBM cups just fine but I've not heard or received anything from either the China or Poland orders yet so I've no actual headset components to try and put it all together.

I have been staring at this frame for so long now. Some unconventional and non-pure thoughts are forming. Like, why couldn't I just machine/dremel away the bulk of the ICBM flanges and then press in a bearing set? I just recently put a CK headset in my kid's bike and regret not seeing how it interfaced with the ICBM flanges.

Short of someone out there having a headset kit that needs new bearings that I can grab I don't know what else to do. I think trying to mod the frame may be the direction I am heading if with Chinese/Polish headsets don't appear.

 

[dogmantra]

Re: Possible Source??

...As for trimming the HT....I wonder if there's a machinist out there who can weigh in on the best way to remove the material so it comes out dead flat? Masking tape, a dremel, a straight edge and some patience? The frame's as useless as it is now if it comes off crooked. Ha.

Sort of speaking without thinking here but I don't feel overly worried about trimming it perfectly level. I should mention that I am clearly NOT a machinist. I am a firefighter who tends to prefer massive hydraulic tools and hitting things with heavy hammers.

Obvs getting it as close to level as possible would be best but if it's a bit off will that matter? I'm sensing that the biggest trick will be trimming as little as possible to leave as much HT as possible for the inner flange of the headset cup to contact. *IF* I end up rolling the dice and trying this I'll just plan to start dremeling away the flared bearing cup until I get it just low enough for the headset to seat fully (or, as fully as is going to happen here).

Step #1 will be visiting my local bike shop to look at some headsets to see which have the deepest flanges. I have has the same couple Chris King headsets forever and have moved them around to various bikes. I'd gladly switch if I could find some that have beefy 1/2" or longer flanges.

 

[dogmantra]

Re: Possible Source??

Alright, a very excited but measured update:

Today I got the polish headset (from woohoo)- see a few posts back for details. I ordered it online from their site and it rook 2.5 weeks to get. I won't be able to get the bottom race pressed until next week and I'm about to head out for a trip but from what I can tell it's exactly what's needed and looks like it'll do the job. I'll update again after getting the race set and assembly complete.

This is the packaging:

These are the contents (the star nit is there under the cap):

 

[holycow]

Re: Possible Source??

Ah ha, excellent news! Thanks for the update and I look forward to your next report.

Alright, a very excited but measured update:

Today I got the polish headset (from woohoo)- see a few posts back for details. I ordered it online from their site and it rook 2.5 weeks to get. I won't be able to get the bottom race pressed until next week and I'm about to head out for a trip but from what I can tell it's exactly what's needed and looks like it'll do the job. I'll update again after getting the race set and assembly complete.

This is the packaging:

These are the contents (the star nit is there under the cap):

 

[dogmantra]

Update: I got the Chinese headset yesterday. It is a spot on match for the Polish headset from WooHoo (both have bearing exactly like those from Cane Creek). I have the Polish headset installed and it went swimmingly. Finished the build today and went for a shake-down ride with nothing falling off, all turns smooth, and the stem-fork connection tight as a well-tuned drum.

If you need an ICBM I advise contacting WooHoo and grabbing one up while they still exist.

 

[holycow]

Dogmantra, that's awesome to hear. Good sleuthing.

I ended up refunding my buyer about 60% of the purchase, and he was still pretty salty about, going into great detail about how many bikes he builds a year and he's seen it all, blah blah. Obviously hasn't seen that much, cause it didn't take a whole lot of effort to connect with the retrobike community and have these exchanges with you, which has been greatly informative and amusing.

Despite feeling like I don't owe this guy anything, I sent him the link, as it seemed like the right thing to do.

I appreciate all your input. Happy trails!