Lower crown race for 1.5" tapered forks

cults3d

Update: This lightweight crown race has been the only game-changer for both of my mountain bikes for about a year now, with one version also installed on one of my wife's bikes for several months, and it performs flawlessly. Saw the ingenious 1 1/8" lower crown race design by Jacques Dugal (http://www.thingiverse.com/quezz38/about) and thought it was an outstanding example of 3D printing technology in action. The only catch is that all my forks are tapered, requiring a 1.5" lower crown race - also known as a "baseplate", according to Chris King. Given the simplicity of this design, I simply drew up my own version from scratch without using the original model. This custom-made crown race works seamlessly with headset bearings featuring a 45-degree angle, which is common in most 1.5" lower bearings. I've successfully printed it in PLA (the red part) as well as ABS (the yellow), and both versions fit perfectly on my Specialized Epic like the original aluminum crown race. Disclaimer: A number of folks were convinced that Jacques' design would fail catastrophically, causing the entire bike to disintegrate and putting riders at risk - but this is a basic compression piece, so if it's printed solidly, failure is highly unlikely. Even in the worst-case scenario, you'd only experience a loose headset. In reality, Jacques has confirmed that his 1 1/8" design has endured several hundred miles of riding without any issues or noticeable wear. Of course, just like with all designs on Thingiverse, if you're not comfortable printing and using it, don't do it. If you print it incorrectly and get hurt as a result, the responsibility lies squarely with you.