Ill sounding headset....

[sabian92]

Hey,

Putting my bike away last night, i turned the handlebars and felt a crunch sort of noise as I turned them. I assume this is bad?

How do I fix this? My bike technical knowledge is shoddy at best and although I've got a toolkit, I don't even think I have the right tool to remove it.

 

[ianrauk]

Sounds like the bearings maybe shot. Or they could just need cleaning.
You haven't said what headset it is.
If you are not tat mechanically minded I would take it to your LBS, let them sort it.

 

[PpPete]

If it's an old-style quill stem you will need what GrumpyGreg refers to as a "comedy spanner", strictly speaking you should have two, but I've always managed with one.

 

[sabian92]

I have no idea what kind of headset/stem it is but I'd like to think I can do it myself as I don't have the money to take it to my LBS.

It felt like there was grit in it - I'm forever cleaning my above my front forks from all the crap off the road so I assume this is what's causing it. I don't use a front mudguard so it must be just going up into the headset.

 

[sidevalve]

If you want to have a go then post a couple of pics and many on here can advise. It's really two ball races on a metal tube, only the fittings vary. When you know whats ahead you can decide wether to go for it or save up and take it to the LBS. It's not rocket science and it's not complicated but it requires a few tools and a little mechanical "feel" to readjust the bearings.

 

[sabian92]

Here's some photos. Apologies for the poor quality - they were taken in bright sunlight on an iPod Touch so they aren't great.

 

[sabian92]

Bump?