headset won’t tighten

[alecstilleyedye]

my ribble cgr sl ‘rocks’ slightly with front brake applied.

i’ve tried tightening the headset with the bolt through the top cap, but makes no difference.

anything simple that can be done before i hand it over to the lbs to fix?

 

[Blue Hills]

my ribble cgr sl ‘rocks’ slightly with front brake applied.

i’ve tried tightening the headset with the bolt through the top cap, but makes no difference.

anything simple that can be done before i hand it over to the lbs to fix?

are you sure the headset is loose?
You can get other bits causing this slight feel of wobble.
Have you tried turning the bike over and pulling the forks backwards and forwards?

 

[Broadside]

my ribble cgr sl ‘rocks’ slightly with front brake applied.

i’ve tried tightening the headset with the bolt through the top cap, but makes no difference.

anything simple that can be done before i hand it over to the lbs to fix?

Not wishing to teach you to suck eggs but have you undone the two side pinch bolts before trying to tighten the top cap?

It could be the star fangled nut inside has pulled up in the headset and needs to be knocked gently down again.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Not wishing to teach you to suck eggs but have you undone the two side pinch bolts before trying to tighten the top cap?

It could be the star fangled nut inside has pulled up in the headset and needs to be knocked gently down again.

yes, did the pinch bolts (always a good thing to call out just in case). it’s a carbon steerer so assume it has some sort of expansion bolt rather than a star nut. could that be the same issue?

 

[Broadside]

yes, did the pinch bolts (always a good thing to call out just in case). it’s a carbon steerer so assume it has some sort of expansion bolt rather than a star nut. could that be the same issue?

You’ll only know by looking. It might worth checking with you LBS if unsure.

I have had bikes with a bit of play in the brakes themselves that made it look like a slack headset. If you turn the front wheel 90degrees and then rock the bike back/forth with the break on is there a noticeable gap/play between the forks and the head tube?

 

[si_c]

I get a bit of a rock on my disc braked bike as the pads move in the housing, not much but it's there, enough to have me concerned for some time about headset tightness.

If you have a torque wrench (I'd recommend it with a carbon steerer) then as long as everything is torqued up correctly and there is a couple of mm of spacer above the top of the expander wedge to let the preload tighten properly then it should all be good.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

definitely headset as the rocking is still apparent when holding wheel still with no brake applied. i’ll see what i can see and, if in doubt, lbs trip…

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Try putting an extra spacer under the cap - you may be at the limit of the bolt?

 

[Teamfixed]

This happened to mine recently. I filed a millimetre or two off of the base of the cap where it had started to make contact with the top of the star nut. But a spacer or tapping the star nut down a touch is a more official fix.

 

[Milkfloat]

If your expansion bolt has been pulled up too much, then it is possible that you don't have enough thread to tighten down the top cap. I would start by checking the location and tightness of the expansion bolt.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Check that the bung in the steerer is not loose. If it is it will just pull up rather than grip when you tighten the top cap.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Try putting an extra spacer under the cap - you may be at the limit of the bolt?

will try that. ordered a set of carbon spacers so bike will get a small upgrade. had to do the same with another bike following a vanity change of top cap...

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Try putting an extra spacer under the cap - you may be at the limit of the bolt?

put a 2mm spacer under the cap and that worked 👍