this also relates to what @rancid_burple is saying which is that I believe those Tange 27.0 cup bearings are 30.2 on the bottom:
https://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_93&products_id=3179
also noted on Sheldon:
which makes me think I could just jammo an ISO bottom in (I have no clue what reaming would cost me at a bike shop) and file the top to fit.
Also I could just buy the VO one, scotchbrite it, and paint it black
What is your headtube ID? You’ve got the headset out?
I’m thinking it was my Schwinn that I filed the crown on, for the same reason. I had already pressed in the cups before I set the race.
ISO headtube with JIS crown 
I actually think I have an Origin8 one in black, installed on one bike that got very few miles. Lemme check.
edit: nvm, crown race is 26.4 and I have no idea where the 27.0 race is located.
I think you should dump that garbage bike in the recycle
Almost correct:
Sell it to some Schwinn collector for three times what it’s worth ($60) and buy a Kona dew.
Buy the ISO and JIS Tange headset, swap the headrace, and sell the other mashup.
OK so my bike is back on the road with a new headset, after some entertaining drama with my VERY local bike shop near my new apt. The dude said he had a headset for it and then… pulled out a no-brand roller bearing headset! That is, roller bearing on the bottom, caged bearings on the top. $50 and he’d install it, he said. I was like… uh… are you sure it’ll fit, and he was sure.
Of course, within a minute they have a file out and are filing away at the fork so the crown race will fit and bashing on the lower cup to fit it in. They brought it out once. Huge gaps. More banging. They bring it out again, no gaps, but I ride it up the block and still tons of play. I come back, they adjust it up, and now I’m back on the road again.
Please enjoy this headset, which is listed as an ACTION.
Action’s listed website is down, but it appears it has changed names to Cyclone, which does list a YST-made Action headset
http://cyclonebicycle.com/product/29804
I encountered some of these made-in-Taiwan YST bearings while looking for Tange ones, so I wasn’t shocked that this exists, just hilarious that the absolutely tiny, neighborhoodiest LBS around, just a few minute’s walk from my front door, happened to have one lying around. It might not be a forever headset, but I think at least if I buy another ISO headset, it’ll fit thanks to their filing.
what happens next in the world of jalopnik bike dithering
Garbage bike dithering
I’m with PVD on this one
Edit:from the good old days when times weren’t unsure:
https://www.peterverdone.com/garbage-pail-bikes/
as long as folks are having fun with bikes who cares
More schwinns, but new ones this time.
EVERYTHING WRONG WITH MY WAL-MART SCHWINN (a series)
ebike conversion
this is the natural retort to the person who made snarky comments on your article, and the reason why people who can do their own work tend to avoid shops
I rode over there just to see if they had a cutter tool and could cut my headtube and file my fork but when they brought out the weirdo roller bearing headset I was like fuck it let’s do this thing
I will say after all that I am very happy the bike is on the road but I do miss the prospect of just getting the headtube reamed and then doing the rest of the work myself! But I’m sure there will be more to do with this bike in due time.
This seems like a perfect bike to learn experience dithering on. No guilty feels if something isn’t quite perfect or if you have to cut/file/shop a bit to make something work.
I like how they left the reflector bracket with no reflector. Just toss that thing.
Lol the reflector itself broke in shipping so I’ve left it off. I am looking for a replacement. Gotta dork. It. Up.
Why not dynamo
yeah jeez. cool that they had a roller bearing headset but could they install it correctly. i would have bought the headset and taken it somewhere that has a cutter and knows how to install a headset. poor bike. my eyes widened just reading about it.
