Headset minefield

pedalbasher

I recently bought a titanium road frameset. It came with an Enve CX fork which is tapered 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 and obviously the headset (140mm) is tapered the same to accommodate that fork.

I want to switch the fork out for an Enve road fork, and I snapped up a deal on ebay earlier. In my haste I did not twig that the road fork is tapered 1 1/8 to 1 1/4. Yeah, schoolboy.

Am I right in thinking I'll be ok to use the road fork in the frameset provided I swap the crown race out for one of these crown race reducer devices - e.g. https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lauf-Crown-Rac ... 215155.htm

If so, could someone point me to a suitable headset that will fit please? This is a special build so I am going to be pretentious and look at Chris King headsets if they are workable. In black

Finally, what do I need to know about angles? The crown reducer I linked above says it has an angle of 36 degrees. I'm not sure what this means / what it needs to be matched to.

Thanks very much.

imposter2.0

36 sounds like the inner race angle, so the new lower bearing will need to match. So the road frame had a CX fork fitted? Must have handled like a chopper...

pedalbasher

Thanks. Is my understanding correct though; the crown race reducer just replaces the normal crown race that comes as part of the headset?

Yeah, CX fork, weird. It's an Alchemy Eros frameset, semi-customised and obviously the buyer had this odd request. It's especially odd because the rear tyre clearance is limited to 28, so going for a CX fork wouldn't really allow for proper cross
if that's what they were thinking 'cos they'd still be stuck with a 28 rear. I'm changing the fork because I don't want to compromise on geometry or aesthetics for that matter!

imposter2.0

Yes, it should replace the existing crown race - which is why it will need to be compatible with whatever the inner race angle is on the new headset..