Fork Crown Race Cutting and Facing

After a bit of advice on this...

Just had the headset cups put in the Mielec and my cheap ass Chinese 3T Funda copy has arrived, however the base of the fork is too thick to take the crown race and fit the headset:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/2013-05-11%2013.36.28.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/2013-05-11%2013.36.37.jpg

To be used with the FSA Orbit X Headset:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/headset/product/review-fsa-orbit-x-headset-us-08-13012

Is this just a case of getting it to my LBS for a fix like the following or am I borked:
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/crown-race-machining

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers,

Jason

After a bit of advice on this...

Just had the headset cups put in the Mielec and my cheap ass Chinese 3T Funda copy has arrived, however the base of the fork looks as if it was laid up/moulded/whatever the fuck made that by a retarded monkey.

FTFY.

I have the cutting and facing tools at work but:

a) 'work' is in Glasgow not London.
b) I have no idea if the tools would work as intended on crabon, I really wouldn't have thought so, perhaps other tools are available, though, I've never heard of them.
c) As a mechanic, I'd be extremely reticent completely unwilling to carry out any such work on forks that looked like that. They look very poorly made and I'd not want to take any risk of being associated or blamed with a failure that occurred because of manufacturing defects.

maybe you could try to find plastic pipe that fits steerer almost perfectly and try with a few strokes on that part of headset... I do that when headset cant fit because of paint on fork.. maybe it will help in your situation.. cant see what's the measure on that thicker part of steerer...

Thanks for the info...
I'll have to measure it later to see how much would have to be removed, that being said I may just ditch the fork and purchase a decent one.

Cheers

the crown race shouldnt just fall in it's place and move freely, otherwise the lower bearring wouldnt do it's job properly..

as it's (heavilly?) clearcoated i'd suggest to tell your lbs he could sand it down a bit if it doesnt fit properly.. but generally with some lube and proper tools it should work.

you can try my 'yolo' diy method, but i don't take any responsibility.

• sand it down
  
• loads of grease or lube
  
• a piece of pipe with the same diameter as your crown race, i use the pipe of my vacuum cleaner with some tape to protect the race from damage
  
• a rubber hammer, or a normal hammer with a piece of wood between the pipe and hammer..
  
  

they are massively produced so i dont think this will be a case of ditching.

the crown race shouldnt just fall in it's place and move freely, otherwise the lower bearring wouldnt do it's job properly..

as it's (heavilly?) clearcoated i'd suggest to tell your lbs he could sand it down a bit if it doesnt fit properly.. but generally with some lube and proper tools it should work.

That doesn't just look like clearcoat to me, looks more like bad moulding flash or at the very least, moulding flash that has been improperly cleaned up before the fork has been clearcoated.

As I said before, as a mech, I'd not touch it. There may be LBS mechs near you who feel they are suitably experienced with carbon or who lack the fear of incrimination if/when you're fork goes ping and you incur a very large dental bill.

My opinion may also be being influenced by seeing a mates fake 3t (or maybe Deda?) carbon stem develop a large crack.

i understand your dental warning, and i totally agree that chibon is to be avoided:)

but i just figured he knew the risk of going the chinese route.. he paid up for it.. and looking at the pictures he might thought the crown race is supposed to fall in it's place..wich isnt the case..unless it's split, wich is still an option too..

Maybe have a word with someone else that bought the same crabon forks?

I think Chung has some...

Well, the fork is too thick at the base, where the crown race should be installed to actually clear the bottom bearing cup - So I guess something is wrong, unless when the crown race is installed it will take off a whole load of the clear coat crap with it and therefore the crown race would then sit correctly.... which might be correct, will probably take it to an lbs a little later this week.

The fork was something like £47 with delivery, a pain if it's fucked but at the end of the day it would be not great loss if it's dodgy as fuck.

47?!? i thought they went for 100-120..

There are loads of them on AliExpress, just pop 3t fork in the search rather than funda, I think they list them as fundr or some crap

i understand your dental warning, and i totally agree that chibon is to be avoided:)

but i just figured he knew the risk of going the chinese route.. he paid up for it.. and looking at the pictures he might thought the crown race is supposed to fall in it's place..wich isnt the case..unless it's split, wich is still an option too..

Fair enough.

For what it's worth though, while a split crown race may fit onto these forks more easily it won't really solve the problem and using a bike where the split crown race that had been split further than intended then assembled into the rest of the headset may cause other issues.

Well, the fork is too thick at the base, where the crown race should be installed to actually clear the bottom bearing cup - So I guess something is wrong, unless when the crown race is installed it will take off a whole load of the clear coat crap with it and therefore the crown race would then sit correctly.... which might be correct, will probably take it to an lbs a little later this week.

The fork was something like £47 with delivery, a pain if it's fucked but at the end of the day it would be not great loss if it's dodgy as fuck.

Like I say, that ridge doesn't just look like clear coat to me but you have the forks in hand so you're best placed to comment on that.

Lets presume it is just clear coat, simply forcing the crown race on over the top is not the way to go, the excess clearcoat will impede you from getting a proper, even installation on the crown race.

Is it just that ridge that's in the way or is it possible to tell if the diameter of the whole crown race seat is off? I'd suspect that if there's clearcoat all over it it will be. In the case of metal forks which have paint on the crown race seat making it appear that the seat is too large diameter then a light facing would remove said paint (without actually removing any metal) and allow correct installation. It's very easy to remove paint/lacquer and stop before you remove metal, I honestly don't know if it would be so easy to stop before removing carbon.

just sand this coating off until it fits.
Vince posted pictures of these steerers, they are very thick.

mechanical_vandal ~ I'm not too sure about the ridge, I popped the caliper on there last night and it said it was about 30.7 at its thickest.

Cheers ~ On the hunt for Vinces thread....

This Vince? http://www.lfgss.com/member23958.html
Can't seem to find the damn thread

just search his posts for funda, I think he did a comparison between original ones and fakes in the mielec thread

http://www.lfgss.com/post3447688-2895.html

Brilliant ~ Thank You

Ok, thought I would provide a quick update on this.

Linking to the pictures as to keep a high res

Going from these first two pictures when I went to install the fork:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/3T_Copy_01.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/3T_Copy_02.jpg

I marked off where the crown race would site:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/3T_Copy_03.jpg

I then tied off the section where the crown race would site with a suitable size cable tie:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/3T_Copy_04.jpg

I then went to town taking it down section by section until it would clear the headset:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21417952/3T_Copy_05.jpg

Just picked up the bike from the LBS, he said it took him a while but the crown race was fitted after some fettling and lubing and everything fitted for £13.

Lets see if it will collapse on me in the near future.....