Headset Caps

Dunedin397

Hello Everyone,

I've a Dawes Giro 300 from 2005. I've a problem with the headset cap in that I was able to rotate it in the stem. I took it off and there was some loose pieces of material where the bolt seemed to connect to the hex nut at the top of the stem. The bolt itself seems to be a standard threaded type, but I can't see how it actually connected to the hex nut. The loose material did seem to fit on the bottom of the bolt, so I assume the bolt somehow sat in a hex shaped nut which was in the top of the stem.

I got a cheap headset cap from Halfords but the bolt is slightly too long and it doesn't have an attachment to fit on top of the stem.

I've ordered a Crane Creek 1 1/8 headset cap from eBay and it seems to have 2 shaped "stars" that are on the bolt.

Can anyone explain to me how headset caps sit on aheadet stems?

Thanks,

Dunedin397

nicklouse

sounds like the top cap bolt has been over tightened and the threads have been pulled out of the star flanged nut (the bit in the steerer).

sorry it is LBS time to have the old "starnut" removed and a new one fitted.

pic of a fitted star nut

Dunedin397

nicklouse wrote:

sounds like the top cap bolt has been over tightened and the threads have been pulled out of the star flanged nut (the bit in the steerer).

sorry it is LBS time to have the old "starnut" removed and a new one fitted.

pic of a fitted star nut

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply. I didn't see any damage to the star flanged nut, it looked like the material was around the bolt itself, not on the top of the steerer. I'll need a new cap anyway, but is replacing the nut on the steerer a big job, or is it a matter of minutes?

Cheers.

Dunedin397

Monty Dog

It's often not worth trying to remove a damaged star-fangled nut - just knock it in a bit and fit a new one above. You need to remove the forks to fit a new one, it only takes a few taps with a hammer and insert tool to fit.