Custom steel road bike (Rychtarski !)

Thank you! Good news. I was planning on a cane creek 40 headset. Not sure on the outside diameter.

The outside diameter of a CC40 doesn't matter.

Because this deserves CK.

It is just a headset. I personally find FSA or Cane Creek just as pleasing to ride with. They are light enough and work plenty sufficient. It makes a lot more sense to spend your hard earned money on custom geometry, tubing , drive train and gears. And be good about maintaining the bike. Regrease the bearings etc.

Thank goodness somebody sees sense

This.

I run a cheap Ritchey headset on the custom bike, work fine.

Yeah. Duh. I know they work fine, but they're not shiny.

Not sure I can be bothered with a king headset.

I kind of want one, but also kind of don't.

Well, this is awkward.....

Just had a quick read through this thread, it seems like it's shaping up nicely. You've specced a lot of details I did on my Orlowski and tbh would on any other future builds. I think 1 1/8 external is definitely the way to go, seems pretty future-proof to me and is plenty stiff enough - especially when it's going on a steel frame which you ain't choosing for it's absolute stiffness characteristics.

Re headset: I went with a second hand Hope and can recommend. It was cheap and any spares needed in future can be bought direct. Also it came with a little rubber seal that sits on the outside of the crown race and is slightly angled so it makes the perfect transition from the (ever so slightly) larger diameter fork crown to the cup.

Did you/Rychtarski make a final decision on tubing?

Cheers, a hope is also on my shortlist. Good call.

I'm waiting for Rychtarski to get back to me re.: tubing, based on my final geometry. Any day now... hopefully.

:/

Nice, well Zona gets a thumbs up from me, seems like a great balance between ride quality, weight, stiffness and cost

Also it came with a little rubber seal that sits on the outside of the crown race and is slightly angled so it makes the perfect transition from the (ever so slightly) larger diameter fork crown to the cup.

Someone else might be able to correct me, but I'm pretty sure that if you choose a modern carbon fork with a traditional external CK headset, then you'll also have to source a custom machined crown race so you don't have a visual gap Inbetween the crown and Lower headset cup.

Yep you're right, I think that would be the case with all external headsets too. I used the crown race from an integrated headset instead of the Hope one then used the rubber seal to fill the small gap. I don't think that would work with a CK but with a hope or Cane Creek, with the more angular style cups, it fills the gap nicely.

bump

This will start tomorrow, apparently. I think they've been busy but it is still a super quick turnaround which is great.

Max or zona? They have left the choice up to me which is fair enough. Any thoughts?

I've never ridden max but zona offers all the ride quality I could want - all day comfort but plenty stiff enough when putting the power down, plus it's quite a bit cheaper right?

I've been using O rings to seal my headsets since 2005. They are exceptionally waterproof and only 10p each! You just need to find one, say 2mm smaller than the diameter you're trying to seal - and the trick to fitting is don't force it over the fork, simply cut it in two, seat and then rejoin with superglue which will bond it near instantly. I've had one on my Caad 8 for nine years now.

Yeah that's about what I thought. Thanks.

Still tempted by max, and I'll admit the awesome tube shape has something to do with it. Just for appearances' sake.

Zona is a bit cheaper, yeah.

This is custom, everything you want in a bike, you wouldn't want to be wishing you had chosen max months down the line when this bike might last you a lifetime. Go for the best for you

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

I also wouldn't want to wish I had chosen Zona due to the max frame being way too stiff. Bearing in mind I'm only 70kg.

[Just to pre-empt some obvious comments, which I am sure will come anyway, I appreciate people's thoughts but am also doing my own research :) ]

Try and give both a try? There'll be several people on here with both

zona main tubes, max forks and chain stays, thinnest seat stays, they have on hand.

laterally stiff yet vertically compliant. custom all over FTW.

just what I'd do.

Interesting. Thanks.

Have you heard about the idea of Building with Max, but rotating the top tube by 90 degrees? Supposed to take some of the harshness out of the ride.

Its tough as there is so much hyperbole and personal bias in everything you read online.