I have a regular simple bike. When I fix the position of the front wheel with my legs standing in front, the handle bar and stem can still be turned. Everything from where the arrow "headset" points at down is fixed (does not move), including the big nut, washer, etc. I tightened the stem bolt (the one at the top of stem) and the big lock nut. Nothing helped at all. I can't figure out how the stem is connected to the fork so they swing left and right together. It used to work fine and started to have the problem today when I made a quick turn today.
I have a regular simple bike. When I fix the position of the front wheel with my legs standing in front, the handle bar and stem can still be turned. Everything from where the arrow "headset" points at down is fixed (does not move), including the big nut, washer, etc. I tightened the stem bolt (the one at the top of stem) and the big lock nut. Nothing helped at all. I can't figure out how the stem is connected to the fork so they swing left and right together. It used to work fine and started to have the problem today when I made a quick turn today.
This is a problem.
1) If you have the older type of stem that goes down into the steering tube the screw may be loose and just need tightening. Just straighten the bars to the correct position and tighten the top screw until it locks do not overtighten but make sure that it is snug.
2) If you have the kind that clamps around the outside of the steering tube the clamps may be loose. Just straighten the bars to the correct position and tighten the clamps.
3) Worst case is that the steering tube itself has come loose from the fork or broken. This is bad and you cannot ride the bike at this point. The fork MUST be replaced.
I have a regular simple bike. When I fix the position of the front wheel with my legs standing in front, the handle bar and stem can still be turned. Everything from where the arrow "headset" points at down is fixed (does not move), including the big nut, washer, etc. I tightened the stem bolt (the one at the top of stem) and the big lock nut. Nothing helped at all. I can't figure out how the stem is connected to the fork so they swing left and right together. It used to work fine and started to have the problem today when I made a quick turn today.
The shift (derailleur) cable in that picture is actually the front brake cable.
Kind of tough to diagnose a problem remotely, but you may have overtightened the headset (big nut) and not tightened the stem bolt enough. In other words you may have clamped the fork in place. Can you rotate the fork freely from the bottom? You should be able to. Take the front wheel off and grasp the bottom of the fork in one hand and try to wiggle it around and rotate it. You should be able to rotate it with essentially no effort and there shouldn't be any movement besides rotation when you try to wiggle it. If that's all good, then what Tom said.
1) If you have the older type of stem that goes down into the steering tube the screw may be loose and just need tightening. Just straighten the bars to the correct position and tighten the top screw until it locks do not overtighten but make sure that it is snug.
That's it. Thanks, Tom. I thought I tightened it. After I read your message, I went outside and tried again. The screw was quite loose. Since it needs an allen wrench, I probably didn't tighten it enough the first time.
1) If you have the older type of stem that goes down into the steering tube the screw may be loose and just need tightening. Just straighten the bars to the correct position and tighten the top screw until it locks do not overtighten but make sure that it is snug.
That's it. Thanks, Tom. I thought I tightened it. After I read your message, I went outside and tried again. The screw was quite loose. Since it needs an allen wrench, I probably didn't tighten it enough the first time.
