Raleigh Comp Headset woes - help needed

Retro Bob writes:

OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.

The Headset that was stock on the 73/74 competition is a Brompton
headset. I have 3 of them. Unfortunately for you, I have 2 raleigh
competitions of that era and a gransport, so I need all 3 of them.
They have an 8-sided _thin_ top race, a fairly generic and thin lock
nut, and they are low-stack headsets, probably in the 30-35 mm range.

http://www.biketrax.co.uk/product/00...be3466ff1c895/

My headsets say "Brompton" inside of the lower cup. It's possible to
take your fork to a bike shop to get the crown race cut down, but if
Bromptons are still available, why not use original parts ??

If the gipiemme headset is an accurate copy, the stack height will be
too high anyway so you should stop what you're doing and look for a
low-stack headset.

Contact me through email if you need more details.

- Don Gillies ( )
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.

The Headset that was stock on the 73/74 competition is a Brompton
headset. I have 3 of them. Unfortunately for you, I have 2 raleigh
competitions of that era and a gransport, so I need all 3 of them.
They have an 8-sided _thin_ top race, a fairly generic and thin lock
nut, and they are low-stack headsets, probably in the 30-35 mm range.

http://www.biketrax.co.uk/product/00...be3466ff1c895/

My headsets say "Brompton" inside of the lower cup. It's possible to
take your fork to a bike shop to get the crown race cut down, but if
Bromptons are still available, why not use original parts ??

If the gipiemme headset is an accurate copy, the stack height will be
too high anyway so you should stop what you're doing and look for a
low-stack headset.

Contact me through email if you need more details.

- Don Gillies ( )
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.

Whoops, mea culpa. You need a BRAMPTON headset, long out of
production, for your bike. It's a low-stack headset, in the low 30
mm's i believe. No relation to Brompton headsets and folding bikes,
as far as I'm aware. I haven't looked at mine for 6 months, sorry for
the typo.

Here's a picture of the brampton headset, except the lock nut is
abnormally high on this one. The one that came standard on the
raleighs has a rather standard interface between the top race and the
locknut.

http://www.flying-scot.co.uk/components/headset.html

These headsets were used on all Raleigh models from the Raleigh Record
up to the Raleigh competition, 1965-1976. Perhaps you can find one in
the parts bin at an old raleigh shop. If it has pitting this problem
can be semi-solved by "lapping" the headset ( running it with
abrasives ) to smooth out the races.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.

Whoops, mea culpa. You need a BRAMPTON headset, long out of
production, for your bike. It's a low-stack headset, in the low 30
mm's i believe. No relation to Brompton headsets and folding bikes,
as far as I'm aware. I haven't looked at mine for 6 months, sorry for
the typo.

Here's a picture of the brampton headset, except the lock nut is
abnormally high on this one. The one that came standard on the
raleighs has a rather standard interface between the top race and the
locknut.

http://www.flying-scot.co.uk/components/headset.html

These headsets were used on all Raleigh models from the Raleigh Record
up to the Raleigh competition, 1965-1976. Perhaps you can find one in
the parts bin at an old raleigh shop. If it has pitting this problem
can be semi-solved by "lapping" the headset ( running it with
abrasives ) to smooth out the races.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.

Whoops, mea culpa. You need a BRAMPTON headset, long out of
production, for your bike. It's a low-stack headset, in the low 30
mm's i believe. No relation to Brompton headsets and folding bikes.

Here's a picture of the brampton headset, except the lock nut is
abnormally high on this one. I have three of these headsets and they
have a rather standard interface between the top race and the locknut.

http://www.flying-scot.co.uk/components/headset.html

These headsets were used on all Raleigh models from the Raleigh Sports
3-speed to the Raleigh Record 10 speed up to the Raleigh competition,
1965-1976. Perhaps you can find one in the parts bin at an old
raleigh shop. If it has pitting this problem can be ameliorated by
"lapping" the headset ( running it with abrasives ) to smooth out the
races.

If you cannot find such a headset, I think that a Stronglight A9 might
work for you (check stack height to be sure.) Stronglight would be
much more appropriate for a Raleigh than any retro Gipiemme product
would be - stronglight headsets shipped on the RRA model in 1973.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.

Whoops, mea culpa. You need a BRAMPTON headset, long out of
production, for your bike. It's a low-stack headset, in the low 30
mm's i believe. No relation to Brompton headsets and folding bikes.

Here's a picture of the brampton headset, except the lock nut is
abnormally high on this one. I have three of these headsets and they
have a rather standard interface between the top race and the locknut.

http://www.flying-scot.co.uk/components/headset.html

These headsets were used on all Raleigh models from the Raleigh Sports
3-speed to the Raleigh Record 10 speed up to the Raleigh competition,
1965-1976. Perhaps you can find one in the parts bin at an old
raleigh shop. If it has pitting this problem can be ameliorated by
"lapping" the headset ( running it with abrasives ) to smooth out the
races.

If you cannot find such a headset, I think that a Stronglight A9 might
work for you (check stack height to be sure.) Stronglight would be
much more appropriate for a Raleigh than any retro Gipiemme product
would be - stronglight headsets shipped on the RRA model in 1973.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

On 12 Oct 2004 13:50:29 -0700, (Donald Gillies)
wrote:

Yep, good thought. I have some valve grinding compound downstairs
that would handle that and the lapping skills.

Super Course is a Carlton bike so i think it has standard headset
threads. i just got a super course 3 months ago (one of my 3 bikes
with brampton headsets), so i can check if it you desire.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Retro Bob writes:

On 12 Oct 2004 13:50:29 -0700, (Donald Gillies)
wrote:

Yep, good thought. I have some valve grinding compound downstairs
that would handle that and the lapping skills.

Super Course is a Carlton bike so i think it has standard headset
threads. i just got a super course 3 months ago (one of my 3 bikes
with brampton headsets), so i can check if it you desire.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA