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Hello gentlemen
I read this forum since a few weeks.
My name is Thomas, I live in Montréal.

I just bought a used Worksman Classic cruiser and I want to do some upgrades on it including.....changing the fork...
When I bring the bike to my local bike parts dealer, he was pretty curious about the headtube diameter.
Actually, he wasn't really sure if it was 1" or 1-1/8". By doing sone research on this forum, I cam to the point that the fork issue on Worksman is pretty weird.

As I'm not a very long date connoisseur and not a very handyman, is there anybody here who can explain to me what should I do about the fork ? I heard that 1" forks are too small and 1-1/8" are too big... I also heard about shims but I must admit, I didn't understand what that was about...

Well, I hope you will be willing to help me.
Have a nice day.

PS : Excuse me if my English is quite approximative but English is not my mother tongue.
 
TomaMTL said:
As I'm not a very long date connoisseur and not a very handyman, is there anybody here who can explain to me what should I do about the fork ? I heard that 1" forks are too small and 1-1/8" are too big... I also heard about shims but I must admit, I didn't understand what that was about...


PS : Excuse me if my English is quite approximative but English is not my mother tongue.

Hello, Thomas. Don't worry; your English is fine.

Worksman bikes, in stock form, take 1" threaded forks and a special kind of 1" threaded headset. Your mechanic is correct; the headtube of the frame is unusual, but the fork is basically normal. (It does have a narrow ID, and takes 21.1mm stems instead of the more typical 22.2mm).

Basically, the Worksman headtube has something like a 32.7mm ID. Normal 1" headtubes are 30.0-30.2mm. "BMX" 1" headsets tend
to be 32.5mm OD. 1.125" headtubes take a 34.0mm OD cup. The Wald 4080 is about 33.0mm at the nubs, and is soft enough to easily deform or file down to fit a worksman.

If you're hoping to run a 1" threaded fork, the easy option is to run a Wald 4080; it will fit, but you may need to file the 3 little nubs a VERY small amount. The next easiest option is to get a "bmx" sized 1" threaded headset, like the Tioga Beartrap. These will need some shimming, but you can do that by cutting up an empty can of moosehead. I kind of like running the tioga beartrap guts and nuts within the original Worksman cups. Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Wald-Headset-4080-Threaded-Plated/dp/B000AO5FPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377535827&sr=8-1&keywords=wald 4080
http://www.amazon.com/Tioga-Beartrap-Headset-Threaded-Chrome/dp/B000C14N4Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377536198&sr=8-1&keywords=tioga beartrap

If you're going to run a 1.125" fork, get one of these:
http://www.genuinebicycleproducts.com/parts.html (Scroll halfway down the page...)
I got one; very nice thing, for what it is. I haven't test-fit it yet, but I put one of the cups up against an OEM worksman headcup, and the OD matched very nearly perfectly. It was the same exact size, to my eye, but I bet a micrometer may show a very small (.1mm) difference ...

**EDIT**The Retro Ryder fits loose in a Worksman Frame, and would need to be shimmed. I found an older, very UGLY YST CS-568 headset where all of the guts fit nicely with the oem Worksman cups. The caged bearings drop in perfectly, and the rest goes into place from there. HTH... **EDIT OVER**

You can also mix-n-match bits from various 1.125" headsets within the stock Worksman cups, but in my opinion, this is more annoying than just dropping the $45 on the ready-made one from Genuine Bicycle Products.

I hope this helps; I tried to take the fact that you're a French-speaker into account and avoided slang and esoteric terms, but that's tough to do while discussing bike parts. By the way, "ID" stands for "inner diameter", and "OD" stands for "outer diameter."

Regards,
Rob
 
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Hey Rob
Thank you very much, I couldn't expect a better answer.
I'll show your message to my mechanic and hop we will find a way to deal with this.

Thanks again, I'll keep you guys posted about the bike transformation
 
Ape Stanger said:
coreybruyere said:
First build!


Great looking bike! Where did you get your springer forks and do they fit well?


Thank you, I forgot... But somewhere online. They're just some cheapies for now. But no they don't fit well at all. I've actually been meaning to jump on the forums and ask if anyone knew of the proper sizing and measurements for Worksman forks....
 
The stock Worksman INB forks are 1" threaded, with 24tpi. On every one I've ever seen, the steerer tube ID is 21.1mm, and the steerers are about 6.25" long. (Of course, if you switch headsets to something with a different stackheight, you may need something longer or you may need spacers.) The crown race is a 27.0 on every Worksman fork I've seen, but I've only worked on the sloping lugged crown versions, and the newer tubular unicrown forks. Very early ones may be different (eg, 26.4). New-production Asian-sourced springers will likely have 27.0 crown races. Axle-to-crown measurements have varied over the years, with the new ones having stupidly big ATC measurements, and earlier ones being decidedly shorter.

HTH
Rob
 
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I recently built this one for a friend:

2.jpeg

3.jpeg
 
Recently acquired this frame and wheel set before they were thrown out at work. Not finished with my current project but already planning this one next. Thinking military theme on this one.
yhytu4ad.jpg
 
Alsfelt, that has heaps of potential. I love these INB frames; I just ordered another one from Chuckz. i think it'll be fixed gear. I just slapped together a red-soaked parts-bin banana seat 26er about 5 minutes ago. These are the best frames currently being made, if you want a "blank canvas" frame for custom cruisers.
 
There are two more just laying on the ground at work that will be thrown away. The problem is they won't let us just take em. Although I believe one more will find its way into my garage soon. ;)
 
WHOA! What front fork and stem are you using in the latest setup?

Joe K-- looks like a great start. Your son gonna follow in your footsteps?

I posted my worksman INB on here a while back; here's some reminder pics:
232323232%7Ffp73468%3Enu%3D8%3A%3A%3B%3E733%3E259%3EWSNRCG%3D34%3C859%3C55%3B34%3Anu0mrj

232323232%7Ffp63576%3Enu%3D8%3A%3A%3B%3E733%3E259%3EWSNRCG%3D34%3C856%3C9%3A534%3Anu0mrj


Today, I tore it apart, added some red ano bits, made it a fake BMX cruiser/trailbike/neo-klunker/whatever:
232323232%7Ffp6356%3A%3Enu%3D8%3A%3A%3B%3E733%3E259%3EWSNRCG%3D34%3C85882%3A934%3Anu0mrj

232323232%7Ffp733%3C7%3Enu%3D8%3A%3A%3B%3E733%3E259%3EWSNRCG%3D34%3C856%3C9%3A634%3Anu0mrj


I kinda went overboard with the red stuff; red chain tensioners, red chain...red valvecaps. Even the mouse condoms for the brake cables are red! :roll: Fun new iteration, though. The seatpost is like 500 feet long; it's way high, but that's where it sits when it bottoms out. :shock: I'm prolly gonna hack it down, although truthfully, that seat height makes sense for when I'm riding trails on it.

-rob
 
WHOA! What front fork and stem are you using in the latest setup?
Ha. Was searching some old threads, and just realized fatkid had asked about the fork, too. 26"x1" threaded SE Landing Gear.... Still on the dual-drum worksman. Powerhouse fork, that one...
 
Well Not to mention, we are at all times satisfied concerning the mind-blowing inspiring ideas served by you.
 

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