Headset adjustment...

Graham Triggs composed the following;:

Quoted message said:

Hi, when I pull on the front brake, and rock the bike forwards and
backwards there is a tiny movement of about 2mm inside the headset.
I'm running a marzocchi drop off comp on a kona frame, so its not
cheap stuff. I've tried a few times to take the stem off, and jiggle
the steering tube around so it snuggles into place, but there's still
a tiny movement.

Help appreciated...

Could be the steerer tube too long. In which case, slacken the handlebar
stem, remove the top cap and bolt and try adding a spacer or two
initially and tightening the star-fangled nut up a bit. Re-tighten the
stem and try it.

Could also be the star-fangled nut needs replacing 'cos it's moving or
has moved, in which case replace it, or use a 'wedge' type fastener.

Could be a lost bearing or four in the headset, check and replace as
required.

There are other possible causes too, but the above are where I would
start to troubleshoot.

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On 19 Jan 2005 11:09:43 -0800, [email hidden] (Graham Triggs)

may have said:

Hi, when I pull on the front brake, and rock the bike forwards and
backwards there is a tiny movement of about 2mm inside the headset.
I'm running a marzocchi drop off comp on a kona frame, so its not
cheap stuff. I've tried a few times to take the stem off, and jiggle
the steering tube around so it snuggles into place, but there's still
a tiny movement.

Help appreciated...

Looen the clamp on the stem, snug down (NOT tightening as though you
were trying to bolt the bike together, just *snug*) on the bolt in the
top cap, retighten the clamp, and check again. If that doesn't take
the slop out, then most likely either you need a thicker shim under
the stem, or your starfangled nut has slipped up in the steerer.
There are other things that might be possible, but those are the most
common. It is not unusual for a little slop to develop in threadless
headsets after a while, since many of them employ "resilient" parts
that collapse with time.

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