Headset Fixed?

Not Responding said:

Hmm. Not sure if I've done it right or, indeed, done anything.

Flipped off protective rubber cap. Loosened two bolts holding stem on.
Checked that bars rotated independantly of steerer. Then I tightened
up the bolt at the top. This seems to have improved things when tested
statically (difficult to test headsets on a bike with roller brakes).
Retightened stem bolts.

Does this sound about right or should I have done something else?

There is a danger the headset could be too tight, despite the steering
feeling smooth (now). I know what you mean about the roller brake (if you
have a *front* roller brake). An alternative way to test for play is
bounce the front of the bike up and down on the ground and listen for the
changing sound. Just past the point of play is ideal.

~PB

in message <[email hidden]>, [Not

Responding (') said:

Hmm. Not sure if I've done it right or, indeed, done anything.

Flipped off protective rubber cap. Loosened two bolts holding stem on.
Checked that bars rotated independantly of steerer. Then I tightened
up the bolt at the top. This seems to have improved things when tested
statically (difficult to test headsets on a bike with roller brakes).
Retightened stem bolts.

Does this sound about right or should I have done something else?

That's it. Oh, put the cap back on.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; I'd rather live in sybar-space

Not Responding said:

Hmm. Not sure if I've done it right or, indeed, done anything.

Flipped off protective rubber cap. Loosened two bolts holding stem on.
Checked that bars rotated independantly of steerer. Then I tightened
up the bolt at the top. This seems to have improved things when tested
statically (difficult to test headsets on a bike with roller brakes).
Retightened stem bolts.

Does this sound about right or should I have done something else?

Put a finger at the back of the fork crown race and you will feel any
movement as you rock the bike.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, [Not

Responding (') said:

Hmm. Not sure if I've done it right or, indeed, done anything.

Flipped off protective rubber cap. Loosened two bolts holding stem

on.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Checked that bars rotated independantly of steerer. Then I

tightened

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

up the bolt at the top. This seems to have improved things when

tested

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

statically (difficult to test headsets on a bike with roller

brakes).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Retightened stem bolts.

Does this sound about right or should I have done something else?

That's it. Oh, put the cap back on.

shouldn't you slacken off the bolt at the top?

best wishes
james

email hidden said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, [Not

Responding (') said:

Hmm. Not sure if I've done it right or, indeed, done anything.

Flipped off protective rubber cap. Loosened two bolts holding stem

on.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Checked that bars rotated independantly of steerer. Then I

tightened

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

up the bolt at the top. This seems to have improved things when

tested

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

statically (difficult to test headsets on a bike with roller

brakes).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Retightened stem bolts.

Does this sound about right or should I have done something else?

That's it. Oh, put the cap back on.

shouldn't you slacken off the bolt at the top?

Now you've got me totally confused. I think the tightness is just
right; tight but steerer turns freely. If I slacken it off, surely I'm
back to where I started.

If the handlebars fall off on the way to work, I'll know I've got it
wrong.

Not Responding said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

That's it. Oh, put the cap back on.

shouldn't you slacken off the bolt at the top?

Now you've got me totally confused. I think the tightness is just
right; tight but steerer turns freely. If I slacken it off, surely I'm
back to where I started.

No, once the stem bolts have been tightened then the top bolt is
redundant, it's not putting tension on anything, the stem bolts hold
everything in place.

You *could* slacken the top bolt off without anything falling apart.
While this won't harm anything, I don't see that it helps anything
either...*shrug*... I've always just left it as is.

Your description of adjustment makes me worry that the headset may be
too tight. You won't necessarily be able to feel if there is too much
tension in the headset by how the bars turn, but it will damage the
internals relatively quickly.

The top bolt is used during adjustment to pre-load the bearings in the
headset. It's important that you put only enough tension in the
assembly to remove any play, then stop. So, if you've just loosened
the stem, wound the top bolt up reasonably firm while feeling that the
bars turn okay, it's very possible you've got it too tight.

It's really a job that needs to be done in small increments. This
takes a bit more time than the one hit method, but once you've got
headset adjusted you'll possibly not have to touch it again for years,
so might as well make sure it's done properly.

Instructions here:

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/howfix_headthreadless.shtml#adjust
--

"Bob"

'The revolution is just a T shirt away'

Email address is spam trapped.
To reply directly remove the beverage.

[Not Responding] [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

Now you've got me totally confused. I think the tightness is just
right; tight but steerer turns freely. If I slacken it off, surely I'm
back to where I started.

If the handlebars fall off on the way to work, I'll know I've got it
wrong.

Once you've tightened the stem bolts back up (You have, haven't you?),
the clamping force is held by the stem and the top bolt can be relaxed.
AFAIK there is no advantage to doing so, so don't worry about it.

Jon

in message <[email hidden]>, [Not

Responding (') said:

email hidden said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, [Not
Responding] ([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

> Hmm. Not sure if I've done it right or, indeed, done anything.
>
> Flipped off protective rubber cap. Loosened two bolts holding stem

on.

Quoted message said:

> Checked that bars rotated independantly of steerer. Then I

tightened

Quoted message said:

> up the bolt at the top. This seems to have improved things when

tested

Quoted message said:

> statically (difficult to test headsets on a bike with roller

brakes).

Quoted message said:

> Retightened stem bolts.
>
> Does this sound about right or should I have done something else?

That's it. Oh, put the cap back on.

shouldn't you slacken off the bolt at the top?

Now you've got me totally confused. I think the tightness is just
right; tight but steerer turns freely. If I slacken it off, surely I'm
back to where I started.

Not if you've got the stem clamped up properly tight. Its the stem
clamping that holds the tension, not the top cap bolt. However, having
said that, I don't back off my top cap bolts, and it hasn't done me any
harm yet.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; "If I were a Microsoft Public Relations person, I would probably
;; be sobbing on a desk right now" -- Rob Miller, editor, /.

Quoted message said:

shouldn't you slacken off the bolt at the top?

ok I withdraw the comment. I have a vague recollection of seeing this
advice somewhere but cannot recall if a justification was offered (I
agree that there is no very obvious consequence of either doing so or
not)

best wishes
james

email hidden said:

Quoted message said:

shouldn't you slacken off the bolt at the top?

ok I withdraw the comment. I have a vague recollection of seeing this
advice somewhere but cannot recall if a justification was offered (I
agree that there is no very obvious consequence of either doing so or
not)

Success (at least in the short term)! Ticking noise and loose
handlebars banished.

I'll just live in hope that I haven't overtightened everything in
anticipation of long term catastrophic failure.