Technical FAQ: Replacement forks with tapered steerers
What can I do if I need to replace my tapered-steerer fork?
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Question: Thanks for all the great advice in your tech column. One subject that I have not seen explored is the replacement of tapered forks. My current ride has a tapered fork/headtube, with a 1-1/2-inch bearing on the bottom and 1-1/8-inch up top.
In looking for a replacement aftermarket fork I could not find any that have tapered steerers. Do you have any insight as to where a fork like this could be located or is there a bearing combination that would allow the use of a standard fork? In other words, how would you remedy this situation?
- George
Dear George,
Below is a response from Chris King regarding headset solutions that will allow you to use a replacement fork with a cylindrical 1-1/8-inch steering tube in a frame with a tapered head tube meant to house a tapered steering tube.
-Lennard
An answer from Chris King : We do offer multiple headset options that will allow the use of a 1-1/8-inch straight steerer in a tapered headtube. Basically, a 1.5- to 1-1/8-inch Devolution baseplate will need to be used with one of our 1.5-inch bottom bearing designs. There are a variety of tapered headtube designs on the market and while our headset may not accommodate all of them here are the options we have available. Which option to use will depend on the design of your headtube.
If the headtube uses an external 1-1/8-inch top cup (33.9 mm internal diameter) and a 1.5-inch external bottom cup (49.6 mm internal diameter) then our NoThreadset headset for tapered head tube can be used with the Devolution baseplate.
If the headtube uses a low stack 1-1/8-inch top cup (44.0 mm internal diameter) and a 1.5-inch low stack bottom cup (55.95 mm internal diameter) then our new InSet tapered headset can be used with the Devolution baseplate.
If the headtube uses a low stack 1-1/8-inch top cup (33.9 mm internal diameter) and a 1.5-inch external bottom cup (49.6 mm internal diameter) then our InSet mixed tapered headset can be used with a Devolution baseplate.
The specifications and examples can be viewed here:
http://chrisking.com/headsets/hds_inset
http://chrisking.com/headsets/hds_onepointfive
See your local authorized Chris King dealer to order or for more information.
-Gabe Cabatic, Chris King Precision Components