cyccommute 

Some. Most after market threaded forks were threaded far down the tube (and had a key way cut for the tabbed washer) and then cut to length. During manufacturing, the threads are usually cut to the size of the frame. I see this a lot of used forks where a fork for a 49cm bike is threaded differently from a 60cm fork. Just the top of the fork is thread for each which means using the 60cm fork on a 49cm frame would mean not just cutting off the fork but also threading a lot of it and grinding in a key way. Cutting threads on a fork is not all that easy to do by hand, either. It’s a lot of work to thread on 7 or 8 cm of thread.

The reason for OEM forks having different threading is that the fork was generally painted to match the frame so they didn’t really need to thread all that much of the steer tube. It’s cheaper to thread only a little bit of fork than a whole lot.

I know it’s popular to engage in conspiratorial thinking but it’s often wrong. Threadless isn’t to make the bike lighter, it’s to make the headset more durable. In the days of early mountain biking and threaded headset, the extra pounding that the headset endured was hard on headsets. The greater magnitude and duration of the vibration during mountain biking caused the threaded headsets to loosen. It was easy to ruin a headset on a single mountain bike outing because it’s not all that easy to field repair a loose threaded headset. During the late 80s and early 90s, there was an extensive cottage industry of threaded headset locking top nuts around to “solve” this problem. They were mostly useless and expensive.

I often replaced headsets several times a year in those early days. A headset press was actually one of the first “real” bike tools I bought and it has been very well used over the last 30 years. I also spent a lot of money on replacement headsets over those years. And before you go saying “but you just didn’t know how to do it properly”, I assure you that I was not the only one having the problem. It was a very common complaint...see the note about locking top nuts above.

The development of the threadless headset was a miracle! I went from constant replacement of headsets due to damage to zero replacements due to damage. I replace them no for upgrades but I haven’t had to replace one for any other reason in more than 25 years. I have Chris King headsets that are in excess of 20 years old. If I replace a King now, it’s because I want a different color headset...not because it is damaged.

Threadless is also superior when it comes to service and adjustment. A threaded headset adjustment is a hit and miss affair. It’s usually too tight or too loose and finding the “just right point” requires lots of iterations to get it right. For a threaded headset, the orders of operation are, tighten the top race and the top nut, check the bearing adjustment, (probably) loosen the top nut, reposition the top race, and repeat as needed. It’s also an operation that is difficult to perform outside of a repair stand but the check of the bearing load is difficult to assess in the stand. So add multiple steps of removing the bike from the stand and putting it back in. It requires multiple dedicated wrenches to do that adjustment as well.

Compare that to a threadless headset. Loosen the stem, tighten the top cap just a little, check the bearings, adjust if need, and tighten the stem. All done with a single 5mm Allen wrench. It can even be done in the field if necessary, although field adjustment is seldom required.

I teach a mechanics class at my local co-op. On headset night, I have the students disassemble headsets, completely remove them (cups and crown race), install into the frame, reassemble, and adjust the headset. I do threaded and threadless side-by-side and make each student do each one. I try to make them do the threaded first and then the threadless. To a person, doing the side-by-side, they all realize how much easier the threadless is than the threaded. I’ve taught a couple of hundred students by now and not a single one has preferred the threaded.

Finally, I tell my students a story about how quick and easy threadless is. I got a new suspension fork in the mail and want to use it for the next day’s ride. The Colbert Report came on at 2130 MDT here in Denver. The interview part of the show started at 2150. I grabbed my fork; took it out to the garage; removed the wheel; dropped the old fork; stripped off the brakes; pulled the crown race; installed the race and brakes; installed the fork, stem, and top cap; adjusted the bearing load; tightened the stem; and hung the bike back up on the wall. When I came back in, the 10 o’clock news was just starting. That’s 10 minutes to do a fork swap. I know I couldn’t do it that fast with a threaded headset.

Threadless...like much else in bicycling...may be better for the manufacturer but it is also better for the consumer.