French headset advice - Why is everything French so difficult?
08-11-23, 06:33 AM
#26
Senior Member
As a note, Stronglight still makes the A9 headset in French thread. It is the newer cartridge bearing version, of course. Stack height is 39 mm . It is harder to source than the BSC version, but you can always get one by inquiring via email to Cycles Alex Singer who always have them in stock.
08-11-23, 07:00 AM
#27
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[QUOTE=Andy_K;22980568 Note the lower headset cup compared to the problematic one above. If it helps, you can mix and match top and bottom cups, and I think you can even use a non-French lower cup as long as it's properly matched with the crown race.[/QUOTE]
That was my experience - I mated a Tange Passage lower set (with a 26.4 crown race to match where the fork crown had been cut for an Italian threaded Campagnolo headset installed without washers or spacers that was force-fitted onto the metric sized and threaded Nervor steerer on a '74 Allegro) with the generic steel headset from a base model Motobecane (a headset allegedly made by Stronglight and sold as an OEM part). The carefully threaded on top pieces massaged the threads back into alignment and it all worked quite nicely - and no surgery needed. I even had room for a centerpull hanger.
That was my experience - I mated a Tange Passage lower set (with a 26.4 crown race to match where the fork crown had been cut for an Italian threaded Campagnolo headset installed without washers or spacers that was force-fitted onto the metric sized and threaded Nervor steerer on a '74 Allegro) with the generic steel headset from a base model Motobecane (a headset allegedly made by Stronglight and sold as an OEM part). The carefully threaded on top pieces massaged the threads back into alignment and it all worked quite nicely - and no surgery needed. I even had room for a centerpull hanger.
08-11-23, 03:15 PM
#28
modified top cone
This wasn't too difficult.
It needed a carbide tipped tool, I think the whole thing was through-hardened.
I left a little land proud so it wouldn't pull any of the plating of at the edge - you can still see the bottom of the Vs:
It needed a carbide tipped tool, I think the whole thing was through-hardened.
I left a little land proud so it wouldn't pull any of the plating of at the edge - you can still see the bottom of the Vs:
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08-11-23, 03:16 PM
#29
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Thread Starter
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08-11-23, 10:52 PM
#30
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The Atelier isn’t very far…
Set up some time with me and maybe we can get your headset issue resolved.
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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08-11-23, 11:11 PM
#31
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Thanks, gugie. Much obliged for your assistance.
oneclick and I have been corresponding and are doing some part alteration through mail horse trading. If it doesn't work out, I've got your number!
oneclick and I have been corresponding and are doing some part alteration through mail horse trading. If it doesn't work out, I've got your number!
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08-12-23, 07:11 AM
#32
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Whew! The HS on my PA-10 might be rubbed on foil over cast iron but it will not go in the trash. I WISH it had teeth like the nicer French bikes as that would decrease the number of trials and errors required to get it good enough.
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08-23-23, 12:54 AM
#33
Senior Member
Thread Starter
As a few suggested, the teeth on the adjustable race could be ground down thus eliminating the need for the 5mm toothed washer and allowing for proper securing with the lockring.
oneclick did a quick test of the adjustable race (shown above) then sent it to me all the way from Nova Scotia. It fit like a dream with no play in the threads and even slimmed down the race's profile a bit as mine seemed to be a couple millimeters larger in width. Most importantly, it allows for me to bypass the toothed washer and install the lockring. There is a small gap in between the lockring and the steerer tube but it's a scant 1.5mm space and to me, that's good enough for a French bike.
Thanks to everyone on this thread for all the clever solutions and a huge thank you to oneclick. Now, let's see what other maddening conundrum the French can throw at me as I continue my restoration journey on this bicycle...
oneclick did a quick test of the adjustable race (shown above) then sent it to me all the way from Nova Scotia. It fit like a dream with no play in the threads and even slimmed down the race's profile a bit as mine seemed to be a couple millimeters larger in width. Most importantly, it allows for me to bypass the toothed washer and install the lockring. There is a small gap in between the lockring and the steerer tube but it's a scant 1.5mm space and to me, that's good enough for a French bike.
Thanks to everyone on this thread for all the clever solutions and a huge thank you to oneclick. Now, let's see what other maddening conundrum the French can throw at me as I continue my restoration journey on this bicycle...
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08-23-23, 04:16 AM
#35
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08-23-23, 04:25 AM
#36
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- Bought a English SR headset
- Milled the fork crown to 26.4mm
- Bought a French threaded SR adjustable cup and locknut.
08-23-23, 06:48 AM
#37
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I can’t blame the French bike industry for the standards they chose. It really did look like the metric system was going to take everything, with a few exceptions such as bearing balls. The rest of the world didn’t follow. To me, that is the shame.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
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08-23-23, 06:02 PM
#38
I use a pair of soft-jaw pliers - ATI Industries ATI508K:
They are around $30 and you can get replacement pads for about $2.
I got two pairs at the Boeing surplus store back in the 90s, great tools for bike headsets.
08-23-23, 08:55 PM
#39
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I used the poor man's method of a set of high quality channel locks with a tightly wrapped shop towel around the headset. It's not pretty but I've found that if you go slow, you can do anything right.
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The Simplicity of Vintage Cycles
The Simplicity of Vintage Cycles
09-01-23, 03:40 PM
#40
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Having just returned from two weeks in France, a perspective of why everything is so difficult for Americans when it comes to French things.
We are barbarians.
We are barbarians.
09-01-23, 04:35 PM
#41
The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land - Chesterton
