1 3/8" locknut on head tube? (Raleigh Criterium)

[Dan B]

So yesterday I took possession of a Raleigh Criterium frame/fork, and from turning the fork by hand it feels a lot like the headset is brinelled. A 32mm spanner is slightly too small, a 36mm is too big, the actual size is somewhere between the two and as far as I can measure it seems to be 1 3/8"

• Is this a size I have any chance of getting a spanner for or should I just go out and buy a large adjustable spanner?
• having got it off, and supposing the headset needs replacement, does anyone know if I need the same size again or if the tube is a standard size that would take a regular headset?
• any other tips?

On a side note, the forks are chromed and rather pitted. I am mildly stunned by the efficacy of polishing them up with aluminium foil, but also very much aware that I probably haven't actually fixed the problems that will lead to further rust. Any tips on something I can seal them with?

 

[Amanda P]

I would buy a good quality and very large adjustable spanner.

As far as I know, there's no standard size for threaded headset cups or locknuts, so even if you have the right size spanner to remove the one that's on there now, if you end up replacing it, there's a good chance you'll have to buy another spanner to fit the new headset. Or even two spanners, if the cup and locknut are different sizes.

Headsets and locknuts are not small and have plenty of flat for a less-than-perfectly-fitting spanner to get a grip on, though, and they don't need to be mega-tight anyway. So go for the best adjustable spanner (with the least backlash or slop in the jaws) that you can afford. It may be useful for older bottom bracket cups too.

Headsets on older steel bikes like this are invariably 1" - a standard size. Stronglight headsets are a good replacement: they have roller bearings and separate races, so you don't have to knock the cups out of the frame when they're worn (although as headsets don't generally get a hard time, it may well outlive you).

 

[Spokesmann]

I use a large spanner... something like 30 or 32mm...

 

[porteous]

I use a huge and unworn adjustable for this job.

 

[Sterba]

I replaced an old headset like this with a new Stronglight, it was both strong and light, and remarkably cheap.

 

[Dan B]

After ordering a big adjustable from Amazon, while waiting for it to arrive I improvised by sliding a 1mm thick metal piece (actually one of those cheapy stamped combination spanners that used to come free with bikes) into the side of my 36mm headset spanner, and it turns out the locknut wasn't very tight anyway.

The good news is that it doesn't appear to be brinnelled at all, it's just that the grease had dried out to the consistency of adhesive. I don't know when this was last ridden, but the extremely dead spider in the head tube is probably a clue. Cleaned out, regreased, forks now spin freely without wobbling. Yay. Now onto the BB ..