play in the headset

dot1

i bought a 2nd hand bike, which when i bought, the headset had to be done up unbeleiveably tight to stop the play and made the steering really tight. so i overhauled it and bought new bearings for it etc which sorted it out as treat. ive jsut bought a new stem which has a smaller stack so i bought another spacer for it, but it has silly amounts of play in it and no matter how tight i do it up, it wont go. any ideas? do i need a new headset?

supersonic

Bearings in the right way round?

dot1

yeah they are

supersonic

Now for a silly question: you are adjusting it propelry? Stem bolts loose, adjust top cap, then retighten stem bolts after? Are the bolt and star nut intact?

dot1

yeah thats all good. the star nut is newish. wud it be anythin to do with ther depth of the star nut? also someone said about the top of the stem needs to be about 5mm above the top of the steerer tube? is this right?

supersonic

Yes, 3-6mm above or it wont pull onto the bearings.