No, it’s not. Loosen your stem bolts, then your top cap on your fork. Seat the fork into the frame, retighten the top cap until there’s no play in the headset, then retighten your stem bolts. If you don’t know how long you’ve been riding it like this, you might want to dig deeper and check the headset cups and bearings for damage. Judging by the last picture, it appears as though your fork’s steerer tube may be bent.
CanDockerz on
Normal to be some gap, but not usually that big.
looks like the bearing is sitting a bit on the piss so would give everything a good clean and reseat.
FarAwaySailor on
Look up some videos on how to set the preload on headset bearings.
DeadBy2050 on
Looking at your third picture, I’m pretty sure your fork is fucked. Someone riding the bike crashed into something that would not give, so the fork bent.
Sure, go ahead and follow all the other advice given, but if there is still an uneven gap like shown in pic 3, fork is a goner. Maybe frame is also fucked.
dan_bunsrltw on
I WOULD NOT RIDE THIS.
The gap discrepancy between the front and rear shows that the fork steerer is either cracked, or severely bent/crumpled not far above the bottom headset cup.
I would take this to a reputable shop for them to remove the fork and assess the damage.
6 Comments
Not normal. Loosen everything and push it down.
No, it’s not. Loosen your stem bolts, then your top cap on your fork. Seat the fork into the frame, retighten the top cap until there’s no play in the headset, then retighten your stem bolts. If you don’t know how long you’ve been riding it like this, you might want to dig deeper and check the headset cups and bearings for damage. Judging by the last picture, it appears as though your fork’s steerer tube may be bent.
Normal to be some gap, but not usually that big.
looks like the bearing is sitting a bit on the piss so would give everything a good clean and reseat.
Look up some videos on how to set the preload on headset bearings.
Looking at your third picture, I’m pretty sure your fork is fucked. Someone riding the bike crashed into something that would not give, so the fork bent.
Sure, go ahead and follow all the other advice given, but if there is still an uneven gap like shown in pic 3, fork is a goner. Maybe frame is also fucked.
I WOULD NOT RIDE THIS.
The gap discrepancy between the front and rear shows that the fork steerer is either cracked, or severely bent/crumpled not far above the bottom headset cup.
I would take this to a reputable shop for them to remove the fork and assess the damage.