Loose front forks

[Slower than you]

just came in from a ride. Towards the end I went over a small bump/pothole and felt a jolt. I got home and inspected and found the front fork is loose, below the stem. I took of the wheel and looked for any screws to tighten. To complicate things, I did change the stem earlier for a shorter one. I have the Cannondale Synapse . Any ideas what to do?

 

[Cubist]

As @User says, its likely you haven't tightened the headset properly. Undo the stem bolts holding it to the steerer, and put some weight through the bars onto the wheel. Check with your fingers and a visual check to make sure all the bearings and races are snugged up, with no gaps, top and bottom. Check that you have about 3mm of spacer or stem clamp above the top of the steerer tube, and then tighten the top cap bolt. It's designed to pull all the bearings g races together in the headset and works by putting pressure down onto the stem or topmost spacer, then preloads the bearing races. It should be free of play, but not tight or notchy. Once you have tightened the top cap, make sure the bars are straight and then tighten the stem clamp bolts. Check for play by holding the front brake on and rocking the front wheel with a finger over the bottom of the head tube.

 

[Racing roadkill]

If you haven't already got a preset Torque key, something like a Ritchey 5Nm is good, I'd suggest getting one. If you over Torque the crown / stem bolts, you can cause issues.

 

[Milkfloat]

Depending on the age of your Synapse you may have an FSA integrated headset - in which case, this may help.

http://swimtorun.com/2013/08/the-infamous-fsa-integrated-headset-ordeal.html

 

[Slower than you]

Thank you everyone. It's the 2015 model. Il try all the tips over the weekend and hopefully manage to sort the problem.

In retrospect, after reading cubists post, I think I tightened in the wrong order.

I watched the clip. Just to check, the play I have is low down where the forks meet the main bike, not at the top by the handlebars. Will this still work?


Racing, how does that stop you over tightening it? What does preset mean?

Thanks everyone much appreciated

 

[Milkfloat]

I have a 2015. You need to tighten the smaller inner bolt first, that holds the bung in place, then you tighten the large top cap.

 

[Cubist]

Thank you everyone. It's the 2015 model. Il try all the tips over the weekend and hopefully manage to sort the problem.

In retrospect, after reading cubists post, I think I tightened in the wrong order.

I watched the clip. Just to check, the play I have is low down where the forks meet the main bike, not at the top by the handlebars. Will this still work?


Racing, how does that stop you over tightening it? What does preset mean?

Thanks everyone much appreciated

Yes, the process described acts on the races at the top and bottom of the headline.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Thank you everyone. It's the 2015 model. Il try all the tips over the weekend and hopefully manage to sort the problem.

In retrospect, after reading cubists post, I think I tightened in the wrong order.

I watched the clip. Just to check, the play I have is low down where the forks meet the main bike, not at the top by the handlebars. Will this still work?


Racing, how does that stop you over tightening it? What does preset mean?

Thanks everyone much appreciated

The preset means when you hit 5 Nm of torque ( about right for most headsets / stems ) the key won't let you tighten any more, it just clicks and rotates without adding any more torque ( like a mini torque wrench).

 

[cyberknight]

Is the shorter stem the same height around the steerer?
Sometimes you need to stick an extra spacer in if they are different.

 

[phantasmagoriana]

Good thinking. If the new stem were shorter than the old one, so that the top cap bottoms out on the steerer, it would not be possible to correctly pre-load the headset.

Yes - I had exactly this once. Changed the stem without realised the new one had a lower stack height, resulting in a frantic quest to find a bike shop to buy an extra headset spacer en-route to an audax, because I'd not taken it for a test ride after changing the stem.

 

[Slower than you]

Thanks I managed to sort yesterday. I got the preset one so as not to ruin anything.

Went for my ride and 2 miles in my seat became loose... Trial and error eh. V annoying. Don't particularly want to ride with any tools. Only own a regular too set...

 

[Globalti]

Well get yourself a small saddle bag and carry a hex key set, a spare inner tube, a CO2 dispenser and some tyre levers. That way you've a fighting chance of getting going after a puncture or something coming loose.

Scott make nice neat little bags, which hang from the saddle rails.