jasoninohio

Sooo, I got the wrong crown race size so I have a moment to reflect on what headset to put on this build; I have plenty of steerer tube available right now on this fork and I just want a classic look, what do you folks think?

oneclick 

Pretty much any new headset is better than one that needs replacing.

If the Passage turns out to not be good enough for you you can always look for better later.

If the race is too small it may also be possible to stick it in a lathe and take a light cut.

BTinNYC 

Tange Passage.
Short stack and different size races can be bought separately.

jdawginsc 

I think if you have plenty of seat tube, use spacers rather than a saw. You cannot add back steerer tube if you change headsets. JUst my opinion, mind you.

himespau 

That's always been my thought. If you ride it for a while and decide it's 100% perfect and you'll never want to change it and you'll always have access to a stock of the short stack headset that you want to put on, sure, cut it at the point, but I'd hold off and just throw a spacer on for now unless you NEED to get your bars that 2-3 mm lower.

Charles Wahl

Ability to use a wider variety of headsets, & bars incrementally higher = good. Steerer too short = bad.

Moe Zhoost

I've always liked the Tange Levin headsets and the CDS model is my go-to for short stack applications. My advice would be to avoid using a short-stack head set if you can avoid it. There are many more options for regular height H-sets so why restrict yourself. Proper sized crown races can be easily found or your fork can be machined to fit what you have. A fork race cutter can make it smaller and a knurling tool can make it bigger.

repechage

hard to increase a 26.4 to 27.0 but add a 5mm spacer at least. Make it enough to use a Levin which has a stack height in the Campagnolo range.

Moe Zhoost

Nope. Relatively easy to do with a Stein knurling tool . Jim Stein makes some marvelous tools.

unworthy1

the Passage is a cheaper (and shorter stack height) model than the go-to Levin or CDS, and there's a reason: races are not as well-finished or hardened as the others, so will wear quicker.
But I am a big fan of Tange HS in general and think they have one of the best bang-for-buck ratios in the business.
The Passage has saved my bacon more than once cause it's easily found and has one of the shortest stack heights available.
But if you have plenty of steerer then you don't need the Passage, spend a few more $$ on a higher-end Tange, use spacers and the proper crown race: you'll be on the road and happy.

noobinsf 

Do you know if this interchangeability is a universal assumption if the same model headset is available with either crown race size, like the Tange Falcon?

unworthy1

in my limited experience there are differences between different MODELS of Tange HS races, so even if the "ball contour radius" is the same (not sure what the technical term is but that's how I compare races), they will vary in thickness as well as the grooves machined for the thin plastic seals that some use.

It's been fairly easy to find the crown races (26.4 or 27.0) sold separately for the Levin, but not so easy to source those, or any other races, for other models, IMO, but YMMV.

So it hasn't been an easy "mix-n-match" proposition with pieces from various models interchanging, which has been a frustration, but reality, for me..

79pmooney

+1 The only reason to cut the steerer is for an entirely new setup/bike or because you absolutely have to get the bars lower. (Race fit in the days before all the stem choices and you did not know/could not afford a framebuilder to make you a <-17 degree custom stem.)

My custom fix gear (my avatar photo) came with a moderately low stack King Gripnut. That headset drove me nuts and I rebuilt it with a collection of Tange parts to get the good races and low enough stack. Worked but every 8000 miles I had to collect the various parts to re-do it. Finally had the builder shave some off the head tube. (Thankfully, he left enough there when he built the frame to make that possible.) Now a standard Levin drops in. Bliss!

The aside - I absolutely love that Tange makes all its headsets interchangeable. Diameters, lockwashers and locknuts. With enough old ones on hand, you can come up with parts to fit almost anything. You don't have to take out loans to buy them. Even the cheapest headsets, the no-name OEM ones bike shops use to keep beaters going install just fine and feel smooth. Look decent. Last a good long time (except they do not have seals. You have to keep grit out - inner tube seal or gobs of marine grease. But for $8 pre-COVID, who's complaining. And they can be used to shrink stack on all the other models.)

Edit: Just read the above post. Never thought about it but in general, I don't mix and match cups and cones so I haven't run into seal issues. But if it were necessary, I'd just do it and pack with tons of marine grease; enough to ooze out and require a post first ride wipe.

JohnDThompson 

Not even that with an old-school threaded headset and a quill-type stem. Only those new-fangled threadless headsets and stems rely on the steer tube to set handlebar height. If you need to get the bars lower than your current stem allows, use a quill track stem rather than a road stem.

JohnDThompson 

And if you're too cheap to buy the tool for a one-off job, you can use a hammer and punch to accomplish the same thing.

79pmooney

I forgot about track stems (and I think I even have one). I've got two custom stems that are -22 and -27. Since I push the length so far, I'm not sure stock track stems would do it for me, even accounting for the 2:1 ratio stem length to washer height that works so well for me. (I figured out years ago that moving handlebars along that ratio doesn't change my shoulder location and back lean at all. Just takes me from hands out there and aero to hands low, back and powerful for aggressive sprinting and climbing short walls. I prefer the hands pretty well out there though its fun having most of my bikes varying.

Back before I started riding very long custom stems, mine all had dents in the throat. At one point I didn't own a stem that didn't. (Being a long, skinny climber, I really wasn't worried that my massive (huh!) strength was going to tear those 1As and TTTs apart and they didn't leave me and go to others.)

Hondo6

Both crown races (ISO and JIS) are also available separately for the Tange Levin CDS. And while it's not as short (stack-wise) as the Passage, it's also fairly short as I recall - about 34mm? for the CDS vice less than 31mm for the Passage, if I recall correctly.

The other thing to watch is the headtube cup/race size. I believe newer Tange Passages use the ISO headtube spec vice JIS. At least the last JIS Tange Passage I bought did - and that's why I bought it (I needed an ISO fixed upper race for a Passage and that turned out to be the cheapest way to get both the fixed upper race and the extra JIS crown race I also wanted).

mhespenheide 

Others have already said it, but to confirm: unless you're 102% committed to the idea of a slammed stem, just put in spacers between the upper race and the top threaded lockring. Future you or future buyers will appreciate it.