Road Bike Headset Tighten
The headset is the bearing assembly that fits to a bike s head tube and allows the fork and front wheel to turn.
Road bike headset tighten. Yup thats how it looks to me too. When it s working as it should you probably won t notice your headset too much but you will become conscious of it if it needs regreasing or starts to wear out because your steering will begin to suffer. A loose headset can make riding dangerous and can be a nuisance over bumpy terrain. The easiest way to find a loose headset is to pay attention when you re moving your bike around like rolling it up over a lip in the pavement or curb to park at a coffee shop etc.
Road cc first met rader and saw the prototype threadless headset at the world mountain bike championships in italy back in 1991. Jon places the bike in the work stand and removes the front wheel. Whats needed is a higher another spacer so that the top of the steerer is 3mm below the underside of the topcap so the bolt actually does preload the headset bearings when you tighten it. A loose headset can make the whole bike feel a bit wobbly and unstable.
It might not be the sexiest component in the world but it does a vital job. I own a cannondale super six 105 ultegra now carbon 2012 bike and i can t stop the wobble in the headset. Diagnosing a loose headset. Headsets are the bearings and cups that allow you to steer your bike.
We show you how to tighten your headset in a few easy steps. We couldn t have expected this simple method of pre loading headset bearings to change the way we attach forks to frames forever but it did. 4 5 and 6mm would be a good place. Depending on your bike the tools that you ll need for this job will vary but it s always good to have a torque wrench and a selection of allen keys to hand.
Learning how to properly adjust and tighten a loose headset on your bicycle is important. Tighten the top cap. Lowering the starnut wont make a jot of difference if this is indeed the issue. If you hear or feel a knock or rattle or clunk stop and try to re create it.
If i tighten down the top cap with 6mm hex i can get rid of the wobble hands on the drops holding brakes headset has a fair bit of play but i cannot move the wheels freely with the handlebars. While it s possible to swiftly tighten a loose headset a closer inspection is required to discover the underlying cause. It can affect braking and steering and make the bike less safe. If there is any movement between the bike and the spacers the headset bolt isn t tight enough.