[norbar]

Ok. I'm making a poor man's trailbike since I have no money and I have a 140mm old Ellsworth bike that strangely has good geo, hasn't cracked after years of use and I have enough decent parts that making it into something rideable should be cheap.

I have one problem though. I got a proto of a stem and a really cheap marzo 44 rc3 ti and my steerer is too short so I need to ditch my FSA PIG headset. Pig's are tall as shit so I should be able to gain a sizeable amount of space there but I have no idea what low non integrated headsets are there.

I know of Cane Creek AER but it's expensive and I'm not sure how durable it is. Are there any other options? Are they as low as the AER?

 

[StiHacka]

What size headset? 49EC/44ZS?

 

[norbar]

What size headset? 49EC/44ZS?

Waiting for my father to measure it since the frame is in his house 200km from me. Will have the numbers soon (hopefully). It's a 2002 frame so expect and old standard.

 

[Flo33]

Afaik Crank Bros Iodine/other name I don't remember. Keep in mind, they are Crank Bros stuff though.

 

[troy]

Didn't You ask the same question a while ago?

 

[norbar]

Didn't You ask the same question a while ago?

Maybe, probably. I had the idea for a whole but i'm a bit less super poor now so I want to do it.

 

[tacubaya]

http://www.canecreek.com/product/slamset/

 

[HAB]

http://www.canecreek.com/product/slamset/

Not helpful for an EC34 frame.

 

[pizza diavola]

I can't help with the "lowest stack" question but I did have an Ellsworth of that vintage once. Which model do you have? I attached a pdf of the 2002 owners manual more for laughs than anything else. It does not say anything about headset size, but were there really any options back then? 1 1/8 was it, no? FSA Pig cups have a diameter of 34 mm according to the FSA headset catalogue I have. That's what I have in my 2006 Moment, which was the same standard as my 2002 Joker.

From the owner's manual: "CONGRATULATIONS! You have just purchased a World Cup bred, state-of-the-art, high performance bicycle frame."

 

[norbar]

I can't help with the "lowest stack" question but I did have an Ellsworth of that vintage once. Which model do you have? I attached a pdf of the 2002 owners manual more for laughs than anything else. It does not say anything about headset size, but were there really any options back then? 1 1/8 was it, no? FSA Pig cups have a diameter of 34 mm according to the FSA headset catalogue I have. That's what I have in my 2006 Moment, which was the same standard as my 2002 Joker.

From the owner's manual: "CONGRATULATIONS! You have just purchased a World Cup bred, state-of-the-art, high performance bicycle frame."

I have the Joker XC so basically a redrilled joker so it has 140mm of travel (or 100mm acording to a different catalogue) I assume it's 34mm but I want to be sure before I pull the trigger

 

[StiHacka]

How short is a "too short steerer"? Perhaps a headlock might just be the ticket if you want some extra safety?

 

[HardtailHack]

I had the same issue a few years ago and ended up running an Acros AH-01 headset which has 23.4mm total stack height and a RaceFace D2 stem.
The headset said for XC only but it ran for a year on my DH bike, the headset I was running was steel and cracked almost the whole way around, couldn't work out why the steering was going stiff until I pulled it out.

 

[pizza diavola]

I have the Joker XC so basically a redrilled joker so it has 140mm of travel (or 100mm acording to a different catalogue) I assume it's 34mm but I want to be sure before I pull the trigger

I'm pretty sure your Joker is 100mm travel. Both my 2000 Aeon Isis and the 2002 Ells Joker warrantee replacement had two forward shock mounting points. One set of holes was for a 7.5x2" shock which gave 6" of travel, and the other set of holes was for a 6.5x1.5" shock which gave 4" of travel.

 

[troy]

This is probably the lowest stack You can get - 20,6mm. They are dirt cheap too.

http://accent-bikes.com/en/products/ahead/hst-basic

Anything with cartridge type bearings will add at least 6-7mm on top of that.

 

[norbar]

I'm pretty sure your Joker is 100mm travel. Both my 2000 Aeon Isis and the 2002 Ells Joker warrantee replacement had two forward shock mounting points. One set of holes was for a 7.5x2" shock which gave 6" of travel, and the other set of holes was for a 6.5x1.5" shock which gave 4" of travel.

Well I found some numbers saying it was 100mm waaay waay back but recently I got this from ellsworth

 

[norbar]

This is probably the lowest stack You can get - 20,6mm. They are dirt cheap too.

http://accent-bikes.com/en/products/ahead/hst-basic

Anything with cartridge type bearings will add at least 6-7mm on top of that.

Thanks man. That's big help. The money saved here will go towards some decent 1x10 drivetrain

 

[vinny4130]

I second the crank bros being the lowest I have seen, and has held up fine.

 

[norbar]

I love Ellsworth's response to headset question telling me it's "standard 1 1/8 headset" WTF does that mean? 34 or 44mm?

 

[troy]

I love Ellsworth's response to headset question telling me it's "standard 1 1/8 headset" WTF does that mean? 34 or 44mm?

34

 

[HardtailHack]

I love Ellsworth's response to headset question telling me it's "standard 1 1/8 headset" WTF does that mean? 34 or 44mm?

It was a standard when the word standard still meant something and I'm pretty surprised Ellsworth aren't still running that type of HT.

 

[norbar]

It was a standard when the word standard still meant something and I'm pretty surprised Ellsworth aren't still running that type of HT.

I would not say say standard meant something when we had the whole seatpost bonanza with 123155123 standards back then.

@troy I knew I could count on you in terms of old bikes

 

[6thElement]

I think 44's only started to come in around 2010? I bought my Ti HT at the end of 2010 and then struggled to get an EC44 lower from Cane Creek as they were only just starting to make them.