Removed acros lock block and fitted cane creek and 2021 debonair

[Trickz]

All went well apart from not having anything substantial to press the rather heavy duty cane creek 3.5mm thick solid steel crown race(never needed anything before as normally split or thin)so when the plastic pipe split I ended up using the bearing extractor in reverse,the acros lockblock needed a bearing extractor as it made a right mess of the steerer tube as in the picture it has hard steel pins too dig into the tube,after fitting the new bearing cups the new cane creek bearings just fall into cups now which is far away from the acros shite.

A bit more stack height

 

[Trickz]

Been out today and feels so much better not to have a steering block,I know if the bars twisted round once it would probably either pull the cable out of the display unit or snap it but I can twist the bars round 180 and it’s putting no pressure on the cables and the brake hose kind of stops it going any further,after seeing how shite the acros bearings are inside,too find broken balls already I’m glad I did have an annoying rattle that started me on this path?

 

[njn]

Just yesterday, I installed the 2021 seal head upgrade, smoother, but diving slightly more when braking. I'll try removing the only token and increase the pressure.

I looked at the stock cane creek headset, still smooth after 1800 miles. Looking at the other bearings, only one of the main pivot bearings (26804 LLU MAX (20 x 32 x 7 mm) wasn't as smooth as it should be.

Thanks for showing how a lock block headset works. Had no idea they cut into the tubes like that.

 

[Duggan]

Lock block headset removed on mine today, fitted a Hope headset, the quality is night and day compared to the original Acros item and the sealing is impressive, don’t think anything is getting through.

 

[Fuellerr]

Why are you guys replacing the headset ??? is there a problem ?? mine works and feels fine is there something I should know

 

[Duggan]

Hey Fuellerr,
I wasn’t a fan of the limited steering lock and also that the lower headset cup has a tendency to get rotated if you do crash even lightly, long term this can’t be good.
As the crown has plenty of clearance I decided to replace the headset while I was fitting a new set of forks.

 

[Dezmond 22]

Removed mine from my 2020 SX , the Acros from day one would come loose every ride POS ! returned it many times under warranty until the Commencal mechanic ruined it by not using the correct tool (I assume) when removing it to get the forks out to send back as they were not getting full travel i decided to get rid of it before it ovalized my frame replaced it with HOPE at my cost
zero issues after that , better turning circle just had to make sure brakes clear frame .

 

[Trickz]

Haven’t been on mine now for 9 weeks as I still have shingles nearly 4 months later?

 

[Duggan]

Haven’t been on mine now for 9 weeks as I still have shingles nearly 4 months later?

Bloody hell that’s a long time! Hope you’re back on the bike soon ??????

 

[RickBullotta]

Just an FYI for anyone that's watching this thread, that if you have clearance issues b/n your fork and frame, you can get a taller crown race that may resolve it. Of course it will slightly tweak the geometry, but anything to get rid of that asinine lock block approach is good.

 

[John_A]

Just fount this thread after really struggling putting a block lock crown race on. going to repalace the stupid thing with a Hope bottom headset