Crown race too loose on new fork

Help! I'm swapping the fork on my kids Cannondale Cujo 24+ from a rigid fork to a Manitou Markhor 26 , straight 1 1/8 steerer on both. I took the (very tight) crown race off the original fork atraumatically, and when I put it on the new fork ,the race slips all the way to the bottom without any really pressure. It is bottomed out and while there doesn't seem to be any play , it can still spin fairly freely on there. The race is from a FSA zero stack zs44 loose bearing headset.

I'm assuming at this point it's too loose to use like this? Is it possible to for the original crown race to have stretched out enough to be out of spec? Or could there be a problem with the new steerer specs?
Pics to follow

Pics of the race are with it just slid on with minimal pressure https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...71943be9eb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...52a4067807.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0bc8346f47.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3d146f693f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...179a770c54.jpg

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

there does not appear to be any flair at the bottom of the steerer tube, how loose is the race mayeb you can use epoxy or loctite sleeve retainer ?

So I measured it with a caliper. The face of the steerer seems to be in spec but maybe it tapers too late? The race seems a little out of spec big but works fine on the other fork .

As far as how loose it's not moving side to side, but it's not tight at all and can be pushed on and off easily with fingers and spun on the tube. Locktite sleeve retainer would likely work, but how hard would it be to ever remove the race with that on there

.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0a3b7546ab.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9793b370e8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a92bed171f.jpg

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

It should be fine if there is no wiggle horizontally. As long as when everything is tightened up the bearings spin and the race doesnt, it will work. After you tighten everything up grab a fist full of front brake, try to rock forward and back and side to side on the front wheel. If you feel any play then you have a problem. If not, and the race doesnt spin, you are likely fine. The worry with not-tight races is that after hard braking over a period of time they start to move. If you don't think itll move horizontally I think itll be ok.

I used the loctite sleeve retainer on creaking Race face square taper cranks, I could break the bond with a crank puller but you knew there was something > a normal square taper/ crank interface going on, I think it was probably much like gluing my cranks on with slow set epoxy so i think heat would do it

Dropping on finger tight is a recipe for endless creaking.

I'd rustle up a different race to try on there. Even if it's not one that fits your headset. Like, just swing into a shop and drop a new race on there and see if it's also loose. Just to see if it's the steerer out of spec, or if the race just got reemed out a bit on the other fork.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Duffman

Help! I'm swapping the fork on my kids Cannondale Cujo 24+ from a rigid fork to a Manitou Markhor 26 , straight 1 1/8 steerer on both. I took the (very tight) crown race off the original fork atraumatically, and when I put it on the new fork ,the race slips all the way to the bottom without any really pressure. It is bottomed out and while there doesn't seem to be any play , it can still spin fairly freely on there. The race is from a FSA zero stack zs44 loose bearing headset. I'm assuming at this point it's too loose to use like this? Is it possible to for the original crown race to have stretched out enough to be out of spec? Or could there be a problem with the new steerer specs? Pics to follow

---

Good idea. I found a random race for a 1 1/8 cartridge bearing headset so can't use with this, and it did stop before it went all the way down. So now I need to find a random race that will fit or a new headset. I still can't figure out how this race is still tight on the old fork but somehow not this one. Is a mystery