Rupert Smith
I have recently started to get an annoying clunking noise from somewhere at the front of my bike
(2003 Scott Elite Racing http://www.scottusa.com/proddetail.php?UID=3673) whenever I hit any
reasonable sized bump. It's fine on road, but as soon as you go offroad it becomes very annoying and
worrying sounding for such a new bike! I thought I'd isolated it to the supension forks (Manitou
Axel Comp) but had those apart last night for the first time and really can't see any problems.
There is no play in the front hub and the quick release is done up very tight (following all the
posts about the danger of loose QRs and disc brakes). The wheel runs true and there are no loose
spokes and the headset is free from play. It's definitely coming from the front end, so help, what
am I missing?! Brake disc and caliper are all secure and the noise doesn't result from braking
anyway, just rough terrain.
My only other idea is that between the headset and the stem there are two spacer rings and below
that a thin blue plastic ring with a gap in it. I'm wondering whether this ring has cracked open
and when under pressure can spring outwards leading to a momentarily loose headset stack.
Unfortunately I'm usually too busy concentrating on riding to watch this and I cannot reproduce
the clunking at all when I'm not riding the bike! Should the blue ring be continuous or is it
meant to have a gap?
Cheers
Rupert
(2003 Scott Elite Racing http://www.scottusa.com/proddetail.php?UID=3673) whenever I hit any
reasonable sized bump. It's fine on road, but as soon as you go offroad it becomes very annoying and
worrying sounding for such a new bike! I thought I'd isolated it to the supension forks (Manitou
Axel Comp) but had those apart last night for the first time and really can't see any problems.
There is no play in the front hub and the quick release is done up very tight (following all the
posts about the danger of loose QRs and disc brakes). The wheel runs true and there are no loose
spokes and the headset is free from play. It's definitely coming from the front end, so help, what
am I missing?! Brake disc and caliper are all secure and the noise doesn't result from braking
anyway, just rough terrain.
My only other idea is that between the headset and the stem there are two spacer rings and below
that a thin blue plastic ring with a gap in it. I'm wondering whether this ring has cracked open
and when under pressure can spring outwards leading to a momentarily loose headset stack.
Unfortunately I'm usually too busy concentrating on riding to watch this and I cannot reproduce
the clunking at all when I'm not riding the bike! Should the blue ring be continuous or is it
meant to have a gap?
Cheers
Rupert
