[CR]new guy with 27.0 headset question

(Example: Framebuilders)

From: <troy001@sympatico.ca>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:36:35 -0500
Subject: [CR]new guy with 27.0 headset question

I've been reading over posts for quite some time but haven't said anythin g. Maybe because my collection of on-topic bikes is a total of one -- a C laud Butler Olympic Sprint, which looks like it belongs to the Holdsworth era. Anyway, reading through all of the info from list members is lots o f fun. And I'll provide a link to pictures for this bike sometime in the future because I would like some more info on it.

But I have a headset question for this bike. I had it repainted at Bicycl e Specialities in Toronto. At the time Mike Barry indicated that the bott om race of the steel headset – a Brampton he said -- was getting quite notchy. It uses a 27.0 crown race. A new 26.4 replacement headset wasn't an option because the fork couldn't be milled to 26.4 -- a previous owne r wrenched a stem so tight that it swelled the steerer tube slightly and the cutters wouldn't slide down. This was noticed after the repaint, so b razing in a new steerer was no good either.

Anyway, what are my options? Does anyone have an old Brampton 27.0 crown race? Would a new 27.0 Tange crown race work? I'm not sure of the if the outside diameter measurement of the lower cup is the standard 30.2 or 30. 0. A JIS headset would match the 27.0 but the frame might not accept a 30 .0. I’m not sure what these frames used. Opinions most welcome.

Also, while I've got people reading, a 26.2 seatpost is used by this bike . Does that seem right for a Reynold 531 straight gauge frame? Or is th is another result of the previous owner’s enthusiastic clamping?

Thanks everyone.
Troy Donovan
St. Catharines, ON