How necessary is head tube reaming and facing?

surly face their frames before painting (don't know about others), if it is faced the ends of the headtube will look all shiny rather than with paint on them.

i was told never to bother at a couple of bike shops i worked in, but the cytech course tells me never to not do it...

Head tubes for integrated headsets don't need facing, since the bearings never actually touch the end faces of the tube. The only time you'd need a facing tool on them is if you've gone too far with the chamfer cutting and made it too deep, then you'd need to take a bit off the faces to provide clearance.

Although the bearings are supposed to just drop in, a very light interference fit on the cylindrical part won't do any harm as long as the chamfered edge of the bearing cartridge sits squarely on the chamfered shoulder inside the head tube. Just make sure you press on the outer ring of the bearing when you push it in. Hand pressure should be enough, if it won't go in without a press the cylindrical bore needs reaming, but don't start carving lumps out of the chamfer unless you're sure that it's so fucked up that only a re-cut can save it. Some head tubes with tapered walls (the ones that look like a cooling tower) have very little spare material to cut into.

Thanks, in that case I'll get the BB faced for sure (GXP), but won't bother with the headtube (integrated).

@ewanamacdonald, can't you contact the person you got the frame off?

@ewanamacdonald, can't you contact the person you got the frame off?

Hmmm tried this, bought it off another forumger and they don't know. I've also tried working out who actually makes the frame. Since their success in the 80's/90's I think that the Concorde brand has disappeared and that some generic frame manufacturer has taken over the name. Wiggle sell a replica PDM Concorde frame that apparently takes an "headset that run a 41mm outside diameter and a 45degree chamfer", but I cant be sure it is the same frame. I also subsequently notice that the "Kiron Mistral" that wiggle claim as their own proprietary frame looks identical to mine but wiggle haven't got back to me on that.

@MDCC
I don't have a set of Callipers so can't measure (plus the guy in the lbs said this is rarely sufficiently accurate anyway). So... we experimented with all the headsets they had in stock and the best bet was an FSA "Cane Creek standard" set but it was far from hand pressure (more strong mallet pressure), so maybe reaming is the right option - but as you say I don't want to cut too much away from the frame especially as it is slightly "cooling tower shaped". I guess I need another trip to town... what an arse.

From my experience, is better to check before reaming, or leaving things as they are. This applies to traditional or integrated headsets.
Some old frames (the older, the bigger, the more likely is) have actually stretched head tubes, so the h/set cups will go in by hand. Not very good, needs Loctite 641 or Araldite.
Few new frames come already prep'd, facing is usually good, even integrated h/sets may benefit from a h/tube reaming, I saw more than once paint, o corrosion treatment that wouldn't make the bearing sit properly. For internal h/sets usually a quick job with fine sandpaper -trying to be as even as possible- solves the problem

Is there a going rate for facing and chasing a bb and headset? ie what sort of cost should I expect?

Do you have the frame stripped? If so it will be cheaper.

i guess you mean you want your bb faced and chased and headset faced? i'd expect about £30-40

Is it necessary to Ream a headtube for a threaded fork/headset? Or just threadless ones?
Cheers
Monsta

both.

Ok good, was going down to see Ted today about getting it done, but didn't want to look like a complete numpty.
Thanks
Monsta

THREAD DREDGE!

just got my a steamroller frame second hand off ebay, stripped it down and had it beautifully powdercoated at armourtex.

does anyone have a headtube/bb facing tool that I can access in exchange for beer?