Retro Bob said:OK... trying to fit a headset to a Raleigh Competition (circa '73 or
'74). I don't have the old headset and no history on the frame. I
am getting a bit confused.
Whoops, mea culpa. You need a BRAMPTON headset, long out of
production, for your bike. It's a low-stack headset, in the low 30
mm's i believe. No relation to Brompton headsets and folding bikes,
as far as I'm aware. I haven't looked at mine for 6 months, sorry for
the typo.
Here's a picture of the brampton headset, except the lock nut is
abnormally high on this one. The one that came standard on the
raleighs has a rather standard interface between the top race and the
locknut.
http://www.flying-scot.co.uk/components/headset.html
These headsets were used on all Raleigh models from the Raleigh Record
up to the Raleigh competition, 1965-1976. Perhaps you can find one in
the parts bin at an old raleigh shop. If it has pitting this problem
can be semi-solved by "lapping" the headset ( running it with
abrasives ) to smooth out the races.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA