Andrew,
Thanks for your reply. The particular situation at hand is a Raleigh threaded (26 tpi) headset on an old frame that I'm building up - I can't adjust it properly, it is either too loose or binds at some points. I suspect that improperly faced headtube is the reason. While I do understand that I can take the frame to an LBS and have the headtube checked/faced if needed - I'm thinking that perhaps this is a good excuse to get myself a facing tool instead. (Besides, I don't like/trust my LBS too much.) (FWIW I have installed/changed a few headsets before without facing the tubes - it mostly worked out just fine but in one other case at least, I think facing the headtube would've also made things smoother.)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 11:23:17 AM, Andrew R Stewart wrote:
> Dmitry- It's kind of a judgment call. Pay attention to how parts come off
> the bike. Do the head set cups take "too" much force to drive out of the
> head tube? Do the cups and cones show even bearing track wear? Do the head
> tube end faces look consistent around their circumference? So to with the
> BB. Did the cups unthread smoothly, was there any gaps under the fixed cup
> lip or lock ring before removal, do the threads and end faces look nice, are
> the wear tracks even?
> Chasing and facing only removes material so care should be used that they
> are done only to correct, not create, problems. Additionally care should be
> taken to not chip off paint during the facings. I "break" the paint around
> corners with a fine file first.
> I have chased and faced the same frames two or three times over the years
> and each time the facing showed slight unevenness had existed before. Yet
> the same tools and techniques were used (I've owned my own Campy tool kit
> since 1980). I think I could repeat any number of times and still see a very
> slight change each time.
> So it's all about the judgment and that starts with the condition of the
> frame.
> Do you have a particular situation you're concerned with? If so can you
> provide more detail?
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dmitry Yaitskov" <dima@rogers.com>
> To: "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:44 AM
> Subject: [CR] Facing and reaming
>> Hi,
>>
>> When you build up an old frame, or change BB or headset - do you
>> usually re-face (and in the case of headset, perhaps re-ream) the
>> tubes? Or are those procedures only needed for new frames? Please
>> share your experiences.
>>
>> --
>> Cheers,
>> Dmitry Yaitskov,
>> Toronto, Canada.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
> Andrew R Stewart
> Rochester, NY
--
Cheers,
Dmitry Yaitskov,
Toronto, Canada.