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    Kids bike – wheel turning easily despite tight headset bolt


    This may be an idiot's question. I have been known to be an idiot. Please tell me if I'm an idiot.

    But I've just taken a new bike out of the box for my daughter. It came with the handlebars at 90 degrees to the wheel so they could fit it in the box. For reasons unknown they provided no instructions. What I can find on the internet is for a different type of bike. I straightened the bars and tightened the headset bolt. The wheel still moves pretty easily – I can pull the handlebars out of line with one hand. Is this normal for kids bikes? It seems lethal to me.

    Assistance very gratefully received…

    Kids bike – wheel turning easily despite tight headset bolt
    byu/Fc258743 inbikewrench



    by Fc258743

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    15 Comments

    1. Supadopemaxed on

      What di you mean by headset bolt?

      There sould be one or two bolts on the side of the stem,, where stem clamps fork. Thats what you gotta tighten. Not the sctew at the top….

      Not idiotic at all.. how many bikes did younassemble?

    2. Lus146 on

      You gotta tighten the pinch bolts on the side of the stem. I imagine you just did the top one, that just controls the bearing preload.

    5. Acceptable-Wallaby73 on

      OP, you tightened the headset bolt but not the pinch bolts on the stem. There should be two bolts, one on either side of the stem, take an Allen key and and tighten until snug.

    6. treetree888 on

      You probably tightened the preload bolt on top. This is to preload the headset so there’s no slop in the steerer / headset. You need to tighten the stem bolts, on the side of the stem. Loosen it all, tighten the top bolt until there’s no slop (but not tighter) then do the side bolts.

    7. Sebastianj7210 on

      I gotta admit you had me laughing a lot with “I have been known to be an idiot”. I’m stealing that phrase. And no, you’re not.

      Now to your problem: as the comments above have mentioned:

      https://preview.redd.it/ujvec87pgfog1.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ea67dcb367143e3171ecb21f076731f2b112ef0

      After tightening the screw that is marked as “Adjusting bolt and cap” in the image, you need to align the stem with the wheel and tighten the stem bolts. The “adjusting bolt and cap” (which is not called like that but who cared) is meant to take out play in the headset. The stem is held in its position by the stem bolts. So the procedure is:

      1. Untighten stem bolts
      2. Adjust “adjusting bolt and cap” (headset screw) not too much, you only need to take out vertical play
      3. Align stem with wheel so it points forward and its centered
      4. TIghten stem bolts. Do not ovetighten, stem is alloy and screws are steel.

      Best!

    8. Adorable_Wolf_8387 on

      Bolt on top sets the preload for the headset bearings. This should be just tight enough to hold everything together. The bolts on the side of the stem are what clamps the handlebar stem onto the steerer tube so they don’t rotate independently. They have to be tightened after you set the headset preload.

    9. Fc258743 on

      Just as an update – I have loosened the headset bolt, tightened the pinch bolts/stem bolts and then re-tightened the headset bolt, but the wheel and bars are still moving separately as in the video above. Thanks for all the replies so far though!

    11. uniqueglobalname on

      Everyone here assuming this is a threadless headset…it could very well be *threaded. Cheap kids bikes often are* We need a side picture to be sure of the course of action here….

    12. No_Mastodon_7896 on

      maybe the steerer tube is turning in the fork, meaning the fork needs to be replaced. Since the simple fix did not fix it you need to get thee to a bike mechanic for proper diagnosis and repair.

    13. mayhemama on

      I would take the stem off and pull the fork out then try to attach the stem to the fork off the frame (if you’re comfortable reassembling the headset to put it back together) That way you could see if the stem is slipping on the steerer or the steerer tube could be loose from the rest of the fork. Either way would probably take it up with where you bought it though!

    14. lightning_ted on

      Can’t really tell from the video but if you secretly have a threaded headset with an expansion wedge stem, the wedge might need grease on the surface that moves against the rest of the stem (not just the outside of the stem) otherwise it can bind instead of expanding properly.

    15. Senior_Cheesecake155 on

      Make sure you loosen the pinch bolts before you tighten the stem bolt. Once you tighten the stem bolt, then you can tighten the pinch bolts.

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