AHEAD FORKS NO BEARINGS ??

[BADGER.BRAD]

Hello all,

Today I received my new adjustable stem for use on my hybrid. I promptly fitted the thing only to find that the head bearing (as I thought anyway) were now loose, A little puzzled that they had come loose I took the lot apart and found there were no bearings as such only plastic tapered sleeve running within each other with no lock washer to hold the sleeves in place. The only way I could now get the head to work without play was to tighten the stem loosely so that a good whack could still move it down the top of the forks place a piece of tube over the top and give the stem a clout pushing down hard on the sleeves then tightening it fully. Is this what you are supposed to do and is it normal for them to have no bearings or lock washers??. I have only ever messed with the older type forks and quill stems so was quite surprised to see it was done this way!

 

[02GF74]

post photos oz I can't get my head round what you are saying.

headset has to have bearings -they can be small cylinders (called needle rollers) in a plastic race or ball bearings - so look again.

 

[kyuss]

Those plastic tapered sleeves sound like the bearings. Removing the stem will obviously loosen them off. You need to tighten the top cap with the stem bolts loosened right off to pre load them and take out any play. Also bear in mind that the steerer tube has to be at least 3mm below the top of the stem or all you're doing is tightening the top cap onto the steerer instead of loading the bearings in the headset.

Take a look at these videos.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hQasFxElKQ&feature=related


http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-threadless-headset/

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Hello again, What I should have said is no ball type bearings The plastic bushes must form the bearing but wondered if this was the standard way of doing things now. The new stem I have is about 5mm shorter than the last one so that will explain why I couldn't tighten them using the top cap , I looked at the thing and came to the conclusion that it must just be a pretty cap as it seemed to be doing nothing ! Although it seems to be working fine now I wonder what the best way is to cut forks down accurately for future ref.

I think I liked the old way better!

Many thanks for the help.

 

[kyuss]

Yep, most bearings on new bikes these days are the cartridge type. No loose balls to play with. As for cutting forks a pipe cutter is probably the best way, assuming it's a steel steerer but a hacksaw will do the job just as well if you're careful. An even easier way to solve your current problem though is to just add a 5mm spacer to what you already have, either above or below the stem, it won't matter as long as the steerer is below the top cap.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Many thanks Kyuss, your help is much appreciated.

Brad

 

[JtB]

Those plastic tapered sleeves sound like the bearings. Removing the stem will obviously loosen them off. You need to tighten the top cap with the stem bolts loosened right off to pre load them and take out any play. Also bear in mind that the steerer tube has to be at least 3mm below the top of the stem or all you're doing is tightening the top cap onto the steerer instead of loading the bearings in the headset.

Take a look at these videos.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hQasFxElKQ&feature=related


http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-threadless-headset

Many thanks kyuss, you're a star - those videos you provided were just what I needed.

Not really knowing how the mechanism worked I'd loosened the handle bars on my Claud Butler off-roader to get it on a cycle rack and the bearings worked lose. I then removed the top cup expecting to see 'ball' bearings like on my preferred mode of transport (a 1977 Carlton) and was somewhat surprised to see the following:

No matter how I tried, I just couldn't get that centre split ring bedded properly and a friend of mine suggested there was probably a tool for the job. Anyway, I stopped off at my LBS on the way home and the guy there put on one of those faces like I'm a total 'pilock' for even thinking about touching it in the first place. He then proceeded to lecture me that there's nothing there to maintain on modern bikes and there's no tool he can sell me for the job. When I asked him what I should do next, he put on a grave face and told me I'd have to bring the bike in for repair. However, when I got home I saw your post and did the job myself in less than 1 minute, so thanks once again.

 

[kyuss]

Nae bother.

For future reference, if you get stuck again with anything maintenance wise, as well as asking/searching on here (which is always a good idea because there's a wealth of information and some very experienced mechanics) it's always worth taking a look at the maintenance pages on the Park Tools website which if nothing else is really good at explaining how the individual parts work. I learned enough from that place to be confident building my last 3 bikes myself and I've not paid for a service in over 5 years.