I’m having difficulty finding headtube stock that is thicker than 1.2mm for 1-1/8" straight steer tube. Does anyone have a good source or extra stock I could buy? I have some length of 1.1mm tube but I’m not loving how thin it is for distortion/reaming. I’d be open to using head tube rings/sleeves too. TIA!
You can use 1 1/2 x .095 straight gauge. Its super beefy so I usually turn down the outside a bit on the lathe
I think Nova Cycles used to have a selection of straight headtubes. Unfortunately, they are going out of business. I don’t know for sure, but I think Fairing was making a bunch of their tubes.
I think it may be a good opportunity to find another supplier, otherwise, these tubes will disappear from the framebuilding fossil record.
Are you specifically looking for a 37mm headtube? Or will this 36.5mm tube work (if it were in stock)?
When you mention 37 mm tube, I’m assuming that’s the OD, not the bearing cup size. We have some remnants of 1-1/2" x .083"w left over from BB shells. ID is 1.33", or 33.8 mm, just about right to ream to 34 mm. Pretty easy to relieve the OD to save some weight. I can send a piece if you pay shipping.
We’ll soon have relieved 37 mm headtubes on our website. 37 mm in this context refers to the finished ID, for a 37 mm bearing cup. This larger size is to accommodate 1-1/8" x 1-1/4" tapered steerers as well as 1-1/8" straight steerers. Wall thickness at the cup is 2 mm, and 1 mm at the relieved center section. We gave some away as pre-production samples, if you’d like one or two for the cost of shipping, they’re yours. If you are never going to run a tapered steerer, stick with the 1-1/2" tube first mentioned. It’s much easier to source a reamer and headset.
See EC37 Vs EC38 Trial: 1.125 to 1.25 tapered headtubes for some pics and a dimensional drawing.
Exactly, It’s for 34mm ID headset cups, that remnant tubing looks like it would do the trick really nicely! How can I send you shipping info? And I’d love a sample headtube or two, I’m up in AK so might as well since shipping is a hassle anyway! Thank you so much!!
Yeah sorry my nomenclature isn’t super spot on, I’m looking for eventual 34 ID headtube stock that is closer to 2mm thick than 1.
1-1/2" remnants are 11-1/2" long, let me know how many. 37 mm headtubes are every 10 mm from 100 to 180 mm. Choose a couple, we should have the correct length.
Send an email to Coco, orders@paragonmachineworks.com with your tubing request and shipping address. She’ll get back to you about shipping costs and how to pay.
Please post some pics of your builds!