Headset - when standard, isn’t.

On my CAAD10 Track I'll be running a SuperX fork - they're painted, so im not changing them!

Problem:
Frame + normal fork is: 34mm x 47mm x 7mm
My fork is: 1"9/16 x 2 x 9/32" (39.7mm x 50.8mm x 7mm)

I guess this means I need a 39.7mm x 47mm x 7mm to fit my frame and fork, but im struggling to find this crazy size.

Help please / suggestions?

https://www.cannondalespares.com/Cannondale-Headset-1-1_8-to-1-1_4--33mm-OD--with-Crown-Race--K35068---%28Replacing-KP203-%26-KP155%29/product_detail/MPart-Elite-Headset-R424-1-1_4-Bearing-%2834x47x7-45x45%29-%28As-in-K35068-%26-K35098%29/product_detail/3-47894

https://www.cannondalespares.com/Enduro-Bearing-B-543-2RS---ABEC-3-MAX-%2819_16-x-2-x-9_32%29-with-angled-champfer---equivalent-to-bearing-in-KP119-and-lower-in-KP454/product_detail/3-47087

Anybody? :(

Have you physically measured the fork?
It should be 1-1/8" to 1-1/4" taper, the same as the caad10 fork and fit right in I thought

I would have thought the same. If the super x fprk is 1 1/4 then finding bearings should be no issue.
But it sounds like the super x forks are 1 1/2.
I will check my super x forks

If it's 1-1/2" you're going to be out of luck but I was pretty sure they were 1-1/4" too. Most cannondales are.
There's a £75 caad13 fork on eBay which would probably work although you'd need to get it painted now 😬

my hunch too, but now i am not so sure !
https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/1_18_to_1.5_headset_for_superx_2017-11419

there are a number of 1 1/4 forks to chsoe from, a road one for starters ( synapse, caad, enve !, giant, etc. would be better suited to a caad track due to similar tyre clearance )

Must be that then. Only superx forks that came up on a quick Google were the smaller taper but they must have changed it at some point.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204474961497

yes, the headtube on that gen of super X is absolutely massive.
steerer looks too short for @yeahdext on those...

i love fork chat. the enves are sanded btw @PhilDAS! i trialed them on HDIJ

Oh fiddle sticks.

Cannondale BallisTec Carbon, 1-1/8" to 1.5" steerer, internal cable routing, 12x100mm thru-axle, 55mm OutFront offset

Are custom bearings a thing? This thing is going to be more ornamental than ridden. But I would like to ride it to the pub every so often. Maybe I’ll buy 10x to cover me.

This is going to be lolz when I spend more on the lower headset bearing alone than what I did for the frame.

It’s as though I should have verified the forks for before I commissioned the painting… that said, I will measure and hope that I am wrong.

a 3.5mm wide bearing ? mmm
this exists to fit 1 1/4 steerers in regular regular top bearing cups ( giant canyon etc. ), but are 4.5mm i think.

if you're going to not use the bike much ( sacrilege obv ), then spend loads on enve 1 1/4 forks :) and spend more loads on painting them

I need to get the tape measure out don’t I?

Believe this CAAD10 track I have is pre prod too so might (I hope) be different to production.

The calipers I think you mean.

I can't imagine custom bearings being economically viable unless you ordered 100s if not 1000s. Probably cheaper to just buy new forks that fit with standard bearings.

Are custom bearings a thing?

I suspect they are, but only high rollers need apply.

Back in the real world, you'd be surprised how robustly you can bodge up headset bearings with aluminium tape, if you put enough thought and care into it.

Or perhaps you can have an adapter machined...

I guess the issue here is I don’t have a gap to fill, I have one I need to expand.

I don’t own calipers. So the metal ruler will be deployed tomorrow.

Perhaps I just run it with a 3d printer bushing 😂

Pics added for context.

It’s being dropped down the bike shop so they can at least measure and I can report back here.

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Ye I don’t think that’s going to work.

Maybe you could squeeze some caged bearings in there haha.

Yeah I'm not sure taking it to a bike shop is a good use of time I'm afraid

My super X fork is 1 1/2 but looks quite different in terms of taper, so i couldn't say for sure what bearing goes on this one.

I think you're solution is going to be an external cup (still might need to be custom) which will raise your HT by a few mm.
Hard to tell from the photo, but as the frame is aluminium I guess it normally has a cup pressed in. If you could get the internal diameter of the headtube and you know the bearing spec for the fork I think it would be a fairly simple lathe job for a machine shop.

Something like this:

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Haven't had a chance to look myself, but could try here.
https://www.wychbearings.co.uk/6805-LLB-Enduro.html

We’ve raided the parts box at my LBS and this seems… possible.

We’ve fitted a bearing with a reduced height, so it sits higher in the cup. It has the same 45degree surface and the fork crown race is fully in contact with the bearing.
There is obviously a wide gap between the steerer and the flat bearing surface but I figure I could just have a machine shop create a spacer to ‘fill’ this gap to stop the fork wandering.
Where the fork sits on the bearing doesn’t foul and appears to sit nicely between the fork and frame.

This bike is for posing. It’s not going to be blatted about at 20mph. I think with a regular inspection of the steerer this is a workable solution.

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Oh that's fine. 1mm gap is good to avoid turning the joint into a pestle / mortar situation. Wouldn't have any qualms in riding it like that at all.