Knowing that most of you clicked on this thread to see a giff of me deep dropping...
I'll cut to the chase.

I have a nice new frame all built up and I love it but the forks mean I'm running a deep drop brake. I tried swapping in another fork. Both forks have the same measurements from the bottom of the headset to the drops. The headtube of the bike I have taken the replacement forks from is longer than the bike I am transfering them to. When I removed the headset from the bike I'm riding and tried the new forks the bearings (caged) seemed way too big. Can anyone help out?

does the steerer diameter match the headset?

not sure if i understood you right... but you need to make sure that both sets of forks are the same combination of either 1" or 1 1/8" steerer and threaded or threadless. this will determine whether the forks match your headset bearings.

is that what you were asking?

Definitely both 1"ers - maybe the bearing races should be bigger for the smaller fork crown? The replacement forks come from a Fondriest Columbus Gara frame - at a guess early eighties. The frame I'm fitting them to I really don't have much of an idea about although the lugs look factory pressed so I would have thought more recent, and Raleigh I think. I'm sure that's not much help!

to be honest i have no idea, i'm just up late.

Different sized headset cups can require different sized or different numbers of bearings.
They are not all the same.

You may also have two completely different sized forks, are you sure they are both 1" or both 1 1/8" ?

If they are both 1", check that both headsets use the same sized balls. If so, just get a few loosballs and fill it up.

A 1 1/8" threaded steerer is quite rare on a road bike. But if its an Ahead you may have that issue. In which case you can get it to work by fiddling with a lot of different headsets.

I'm pretty positive both headsets are 1". They're both lugged steel frames and fairly old. I don't have any experience of fitting headsets though (thanks kiwi paul) so I don't know if you get different diameters for different forks.

there are two sizes of 1" headsets.

ISO and JIS

30.2 and 30 mm.

the fork crown race can be 26.4 or 27 mm

find out what you're working with by using a vernier gauge or calipers

You may need an external shim.

Then remove one ball - many binding, sticking, creaking, notchy, stiff headset and BB problems can be caused by overfilling with ball bearings, always leave a small gap in the balls.

Thanks for the replies. I can't put any more bearings in the races as both sets of bearings in both head sets are caged. I don't want to start popping them out and mixing them up. I guess I have the larger of the 2 1" headsets RPM mentioned. Also the forks I'd like to replace are horizontal at the crown while the ones I'm switching in are more rounded. Not sure if this would make a difference once you've fitted the race? I'm going to have to have a sit down and a think about this one. Ta again.

tynan had some forks i wanted them for my carbolight but he wouldnt sell them to me for some reason. i think i could adapt them to the peugeot. maybe you could have them? he said something about a steerer but i already have a steerer, i wanted forks.

i have a couple of spare 1" 700 forks that you can have. one's a nice aero style fork, one's a more standard race fork. drop me a pm if you're interested... but i'm away until the 21st.

You could probably adapt it with some sort of external shim I suppose.

would that be called a inveerse shim or something else alltogether? and can i get one from the bike shop? i think these forks would make the peugeot look much ,sexier.

Can you make a carbolite pug sexy?

Teddy - legend. I certainly would be interested in the aeros - still trying to puzzle out what I have and what will fit though. I'll PM you and by the time you return I could well hit you up. Thanks again. Saxondale - dude thanks for all your help also. Tynan is nothing but a pain in the ass. I can help you out with the Peugeot though. I have an awesome bodykit for a 106 if you're intrested? Deep flange. I was saving it for a conversion but never got round to it. PM me. Love you. xxx

Saxondale,
as mentioned by a fair few people, you could not fit those forks to your frame.
tynan was just being fair to you.
An inverse shim doesn't exist. for obvious reasons, as a shim makes something smaller fit in something bigger. you can't fit something bigger into something smaller.
those forks were 1 1/8" diameter steerer- the steerer is the bit that sticks out of the fork, and goes through the headtube (the bit at the front of the frame)- your headtube is probably 1", therefore the forks are 1/8" too big.

thankx for the advise. and i thought you could stick a bigger thing into a smaller one, if you cant you cant. but if its a few mm surely it cant make a lot of diffrence in the long run? and its funny how everyone calls the forks the steerer, and not the bar.

what does a deep flange bodykit look likt? and my bike is 103 tubing not 106 - sorry to disapoint you, i suppose that menas its even lighter.

There will be no long run. Something that needs to turn smoothly will not go into a space smaller than it's own size and work.

The tube at the top of the forks (the one that goes through your frame) is called the steerer tube. In this picture the 'steerer' is the silver tube.

Handle bars are called handle bars (not 'steerer')

The steerer on forks is called the 'steerer tube' or often just the 'steerer'

Example: "I like the forks but there is not enough steerer to fit my frame"