headset won’t tighten

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alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
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?
 
Location
London
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

Guru
Location
Fleet, Hants
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.
 
OP
OP
alecstilleyedye

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
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

Guru
Location
Fleet, Hants
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

Guru
Location
Wirral
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.
 

Teamfixed

Tim Lewis
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.
 
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