What's wrong with my headset?

[2wheelwill]

I recently bought a Wilier carbon frame with an integrated headset from a fellow forum member. I got it all built up last night and noticed I couldn't tighten down the top stem bolt without seizing the headset (hard to steer bars). I took the fork out and noticed the fork crown race doesn't sit right with the bottom bearing. It's a Ritchey headset.

So is it safe to assume this crown race came from a different headset? Are fork crown races standardized to sit correctly with any headset bearings?

Clearly I'm an integrated headset rookie. I'm tempted to just drop the bike off at my LBS to have a new headset installed but afraid i'll end up spending more than i really need to.

Any advice would be much appreciated. :help:

Will-

[Louis]

I took the fork out and noticed the fork crown race doesn't sit right with the bottom bearing. It's a Ritchey headset

Some pictures might help diagnose the problem.

[rustychisel]

Some pictures might help diagnose the problem.

what he said.

but, fork crown race seated correctly? Bearings in correctly and right side down? All parts correctly sent with the frame and forks, including thrust washer (split wedge shaped object)?

I bit of googling will find you an exploded view of the Ritchie headset of your flavour

[ultraman6970]

I think the problem could be :

You have the wrong headset in there... with integrated headsets you have 2 mayor standards, campagnolo and cane creek (SI i believe is called), the bearings in both systems are 1 1/8, the outside angle is the same but the internal angle (the one that makes contact with the crown race and the upper ring) are different, add that a larger height of the campagnolo bearing.

Ask the seller or tell us the bike and model you got to help you out, my best guess is that you got a regular cane creek specs headset and if you put those in a campagnolo specs frames an forks then the internal angle doesnt match and stuff like this happens. Or backwards.

What do the bearing says?? 45x45 (campagnolo) or 36x45 (cane creek)??

The fork had the crown race in place or are u using the crown race that came with the headset??

Second detail, if the frame is campy headset, and you got a cane creek and used that crown race since the bearings are not that tall, big chance the top cap is getting stuck in the upper section of the headset and that's why is getting stuck and you see that difference at the bottom.

W/o knowing what frame you have in there is hard to tell... the seller should know tho.

[oldguy00]

If it ends up that you do have the correct headset, and that the crown race is seated correctly, then time to look at:

1. Make sure the upper and/or lower bearing is not worn out. This happened on a Giant carbon frame I had. There was really no way to know for sure that it was the bearing causing the problem (exactly what you describe), it was something I figured out based on google searches and other people's experiences. Replaced the bearings, problem solved.

or, more likely
2. Check the 'bung' or star nut inside the steerer tube. If it is not seated tightly enough, then when you try to tighten the bolt, it will just end up moving upward, and you will not be able to get things tightened correctly without over tightening or bottoming out.

Also, make sure there is enough clearance under the top cap (on top of stem) and that it isn't bottoming out. You can rule this out quite easily by adding an extra spacer between the top cap and the stem.

[2wheelwill]

Thanks for all the comments. The frameset is a Wilier Izardo xp and the Ritchey headset came with the frame (again, I bought this used but it looks like it was never built/ridden). I wasn't able to snap a pic but here's what I do know:

- the bottom bearing clearly isn't seating correctly on the fork crown - it seems the bearing diameter is too small.
- everything else appears to be installed correctly. Top bearing sits perfectly in frame and spins smoothly.

So I'm guessing I need a new crown race and not a new bearing? I haven't had a chance to pull the fork to look at any info printed on the bearings but is that how I figure out whether I have a cane creek or campy standard?

Thanks again for all the info!

Will-

[ultraman6970]

If the bearing is not seating right in the crown race, maybe you have the wrong crown race or bearing.

Yes you have to look to the bearing engravings, if the top one says 45x45 then the bottom has to say the same... (if it says 36x45, then the bottom has to say the same),

[2wheelwill]

So does 45x45 mean it's the campy standard?