Ticking headset

Paul Davis said:

I have an Inbred with rigid forks and a Cane Creek S2
headset.

I've recently had the stem changed and the headset has
been adjusted so that there is no play in the headset.

I have just noticed though that if I apply the front brake
and rock the bike there is a slight ticking/clicking noise
which seems to be coming from the top race. I was
wondering whether this is okay? Would it just be the
bearings moving against the race as force is applied to
the steerer or do I need to tighten the headset?

I can detect no play in the headset, either whilst rocking
the bike or by grabbing the forks and trying to move them
against the frame.

The clicking noise could be play, perhaps just too slight to
for you to recognise it as play . Otherwise it's worrying
and a mystery to me.

~PB

Thanks,

I have tightened up the headset a little and the ticking has
gone, the steering is still nice and smooth.

Just out of interest, since the ticking was only coming from
the top race does it mean that by tightening things up until
it stoppen that they bearings in the lower race will be
under more load?

Thanks again, PJay

Paul Davis said:

Just out of interest, since the ticking was only coming
from the top race does it mean that by tightening things
up until it stoppen that they bearings in the lower race
will be under more load?

Yes, tightening the headset effectively pushes the lower cup
on frame's head harder against the fork crown race, so load
is increased on both upper and lower races simultaneously.

Quoted message said:

Thanks again,

Happy to help, ~PB

Paul Davis [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

Thanks,

I have tightened up the headset a little and the ticking
has gone, the steering is still nice and smooth.

Just out of interest, since the ticking was only coming
from the top race does it mean that by tightening things
up until it stoppen that they bearings in the lower race
will be under more load?

It's more likely to mean that the load has been evened out
over both sets of bearings, rather than being concentrated
in the lower set (The upper set was mobile AIUI).

Jon

Although tightening up the headset removes the ticking sound
whilst rocking the bike, sitting on the bike with the front
brake on and rocking the bike with my body weight on the
saddle can also result in a slight ticking sound from the
upper race. Do I need to tighten the headset until this
disappears too? I don't really want to overtighten things
either. The frame and forks are steel with a bit of flex (I
don't know whether this makes a differance).

I'm pretty new to bike maintainence and starting to try and
find my way around the bike for stuff I can do myself at
home. I'll take the bike into my local bike shop tomorrow so
that they can check the headset and see how I've done.

Thanks

PJay

Paul Davis said:

Although tightening up the headset removes the ticking
sound whilst rocking the bike, sitting on the bike with
the front brake on and rocking the bike with my body
weight on the saddle can also result in a slight ticking
sound from the upper race. Do I need to tighten the
headset until this disappears too? I don't really want to
overtighten things either.

That's the danger -- overtightening. I think it's best to
err on the side of play if in doubt, for the time being at
least...........

Quoted message said:

The frame and forks are steel with a bit of flex (I don't
know whether this makes a differance).

No.

Quoted message said:

I'm pretty new to bike maintainence and starting to try
and find my way around the bike for stuff I can do myself
at home. I'll take the bike into my local bike shop
tomorrow so that they can check the headset and see how
I've done.

Not a bad idea. Good luck.

~PB