Should I have a gap here?

Karl72

I am wandering whether I should have a small gap between the top of the fork and the bottom of the headtube as seen in photo. Am getting a horrible rattling sound when out on the bike, I have had the bike a couple of months and when I took it back for its free check I told them about this gap and the bike came back exactly the same. Should I be concerned about this gap or is it normal?

Cheers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12102738@N03/
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Monty Dog

That looks OK - apply the front brake and rock the bike back and forth - there should be no movement - if there is then the headset needs readjusting or it is worn. Turn the bars- the bearings should feel smooth with no notchiness/grittiness

Smokin Joe

If there was no gap the forks would foul on the headtube and you could not steer. Horrible rattles can come from any number of places and are often difficult to pin down. Check the headset as monty says and if that is not the source then go through the rest of the bike making sure nothing is loose.

Steve I

Another way of checking the headset is to grab hold of the spacer washers below (or above, sometimes) the stem and see if they will turn under hand pressure. If they turn very easily the headset probably needs adjusting.

cougie

Do you know how to tighten the headset ?

Anonymous

Karl72 wrote:

I am wandering whether I should have a small gap between the top of the fork and the bottom of the headtube as seen in photo. Am getting a horrible rattling sound when out on the bike, I have had the bike a couple of months and when I took it back for its free check I told them about this gap and the bike came back exactly the same. Should I be concerned about this gap or is it normal?

Cheers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12102738@N03/
[/url]

At the risk of sounding like Peter Kay.
It's the apparent damage on the carbon fork crown you should be worrying about.

Eat My Dust

That really doesn't look correct. Does the bike have a integrated headset? if so this is definetely wrong. If it does have a integrated headset and you are riding it like this, you have a huge chance of totally screwing your frame. If the bike shop you bought it from aren't concerned, get a 2nd opinion. From my experience, some bike shops don't know their arse from their elbows!!

Monty Dog

I disagree - firstly, it's hard to tell whether to marks on the fork are just light reflections or damage, so can't offer an opinion without different photos. The silver item in the gap is the crown race and they vary a lot with different headsets. Suggest you have a look on the Park Tool website for details of stripping/inspecting a headset and see how you get on - if not certain, take it to someone who should know.

Eat My Dust

If there was meant to be a gap there, it wouldn't be exposed Aluminium., at the very least there would be a spacer of some sort, You should ask my wife, she's heard all about it!!

campagsarge

Just had a headset moment myself, Karl72. Following these instrucstions from andyp sorted out my problem. More detailed instructions are in the Park link on my post.

andyp wrote:

Don't Park have a section on adjusting threadless headsets? It's one of the easiest jobs to do yourself once you know what you're doing.

Get an allen key and loosen the two bolts that clamp the stem to the steerer. Then carefully tighten the bolt in the cap on the top of the steerer until you've removed any play. Be careful about over tightening this though as you can cause damage to the headset and the fork. Once you're happy with the bearing adjustment do up the two clamp bolts on the stem.

Simple.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/posting ... p=14631111

Hope this helps.