Campagnolo Record Headset

Question

I need some help, or suggestions

I have a Campagnolo Record 1" steerer threadless headset, that it is supposed to go on my Cinelli Proxima project. The problem is that when I received the frame and headset I realized that it was missing its "crown race". I tried to look online, but it is quite tricky to find one, and expensive to buy on itself, just because people selling these components, even when they are old and used, try to over price them.

Do you know how I could find one, what is the best way to find these kind of components?

Could I use a generic crown race, or the contact angle of the bearing would be different?

For what I know if the caged bearings are just the same as a normal generic headset, both should roll on a generic crown race, it should not be like for sealed bearings which need a precise angle.

I really appreciate your input! thanks

Answer 1

They are crazy expensive but still in production and/or available new. (Which is to say you can just order one). It's not just gouging at the retail end. As with many Campy parts they're just plain expensive.

I highly recommend not messing around with mismatching the crown race. That's true of most headsets because while you may be able to find something that seems to engage the bearings, the race and the cup are designed together to seal correctly. So you might be able to come up with something that physically works, but a cheap new headset would likely be better in practice.

In this case, while you're correct that if it's a generic 5/32"x16 caged bearing in there then a mismatched race for a headset that uses the same bearing probably won't have any bearing contact issues (not an absolute because the balls do have some wiggle room in their retainers), the headset you've got doesn't use a generic lower bearing. It uses a special Campy one with 3/16" balls.