Tightening the headset bolt way beyond reasonable doesn’t help, there is still loads of play. Is it an issue with steerer tube length? Am I missing any washers or anything? The bike makes a pretty disconcerting rattling because of this
by frooon
Tightening the headset bolt way beyond reasonable doesn’t help, there is still loads of play. Is it an issue with steerer tube length? Am I missing any washers or anything? The bike makes a pretty disconcerting rattling because of this
by frooon
6 Comments
Did you undo the stem bolts before tightening the headset bolt?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM4iddLaL8I
Yes, the top of your steerer is above the top of your spacer/stem stack.
When you tighten the top cap bolt, it pulls the steerer up.
But this can only happen if the edge of the top cap is pushing down on the spacer/stem stack.
And so you need the steerer to be below it, usually by at least 3-5mm. Based on your second pic, you either need another spacer or you need to cut your steerer a bit.
Also make sure the stem bolts are loose when you do this “preload”, otherwise the steerer won’t be able to slide up inside the spacer/stem stack.
Your steerer tube is too long, so you can’t preload properly. You either need to trim a couple of mm off the steerer or add a spacer.
Yes you need a extra spacer or cut down your steerer tube down a bit. The steerer tube needs to be under the top of the stem so that there is a gap to allow compression.
Add another spacer! 5mm should do. Either to the top or under the stem
Headset cap is mainly to pull the headset bearings, but you’ll need to undo the stem bolts 1st. If there’s not enough clearance for the headset bearing pull e.g the fork has been cut too long just pop a 0.5 mm spacer into too below the cap