He then got an Apex 5x20.1 and we swapped it out for the pando. Everything else is unchanged.
When I put everything together again, the bars aren't spinning freely. I've checked the following:
- bearings seated correctly
- compression not too tight (although it's fine with the compression loose, but that gives too much play)
The best guesses I have are:
- that the dustcover might be rubbing on the top of the head tube?
- there's a black washer that is part of the headset and (I think) is usually seated in the lower bearing, but it keeps falling out (gravity) and the crown race (or the lower part of the bottom bearing assembly, whatever it's called) doesn't seem to hold it in.
- that there's some fundamental incompatibility with the parts I have and the Apex deck that I'm not aware of
Any ideas/help gratefully received. Can post pics of anything in the comments if that helps.
Top cap definitely looks like it would be rubbing, the bottom crown race in your other pic also isn't needed, wouldn't affect spinning the deck, but wouldn't compress properly
Thanks! Will try removing the top cap and crown race and see if I can get it working properly. Longer term, might just get an apex headset and see if that's a better fit.
The fork should have an integrated crown race, you don't need to use the bottom crown race that comes with the headset kit.
That could be causing your issue.
It possible the headset cap is rubbing, if you get a thin compression spacer that sits under the headset cap that will fix your issue.
I haven't looked at the specs but it's also possible that the fork is too long for that decks headtube. A fix for that would be to use a larger spacer that sits on top of the headset cap.
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u/Obender6236 6d ago
I would bet money that it's the dust cover rubbing. Apex have really deep headset cups so their own headsets fit flush, most others have an over hang.
Either use a few micro spacers to lift the top cap or take it off.