loose headset?

Rudd

Hello all and merry christmas. I thought I had fixed my headset but now I'm not so sure, perhaps you can tell me if this normal?

If I stand infront of my bike ( condor Squadra ) with the front wheel firmly between my knees and flex the handle bars left to right there is enough flex for the rim to hit the brakes ( I have quite about 0.5cm between the blocks and rims). Is this normal / safe?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Smokin Joe

Nothing to do with the headset and yes, it is normal and nothing to worry about. You can induce a fair bit more than .5mm sideways flex in a wheel if you try.

Rudd

thanks, but I think that the flex is in the headset/handlebars not the wheel.................

Smokin Joe

If moving the bars in the way you describe is causing the blocks to hit the rim, it must be the wheel that is flexing. If it was the bars or stem it would have no effect on the brakes.

Think about it.

Rudd

ok, but I'm holding the wheel between by knees and I can see the blocks move onto the rim as I twist the handle bars ie the blocks are moving with the handle bars....................

on the road

Apply the front brake and try to push the bike forwards and backwards, if it's the headset then the will be movement in the headset as you try to push the bike backwards and forwards, if there's no movement in the headset then the it's not the headset.

If there's side to side movement in the wheel then the cones might need tightening.

Smokin Joe

Yes but the caliper is attaced to the forks so even if the bars are flexing it will have no effect on the brake. What is happening is that the whole of the front of the bike is turning as you move the bars except the rim which is flexing between your knees.

To check for a loose headset hold the front brake on and see if their is any play as you rock the bike back and forth, if there isn't your headset is not loose. Even if it is, it will have no bearing on what you describe. I can move my wheel rims against the blocks with my hand if I have only .5mm clearence.

blackhands

Smokin Joe wrote:

I can move my wheel rims against the blocks with my hand if I have only .5mm clearence.

But he say's he's got .5 cm movement - which is 10 times as much.

Smokin Joe

blackhands wrote:

Smokin Joe wrote:

I can move my wheel rims against the blocks with my hand if I have only .5mm clearence.

But he say's he's got .5 cm movement - which is 10 times as much.

I misread the measurement, but 5mm is still no problem. All wheels have lateral flex, and if you clamp it between your knees while turning the bars you are putting far more force through the rim than when you are driving a rear wheel, for example. It is not the headset and if it was loose cones you would be able to flop the wheel sideways on the axle with the mearest touch.

I wouldn't worry unless the wheel kept going out of true, which would point to a low tension build.

oldwelshman

I am not sure why you tested the bike this way if you suspected hset?
As others say, apply brake and rock bike.
5mm is also a lot of gap between pads and rim, surprised ypu manage to stop, I have 2mm max
Also if you had 5mm play in hset the bike would be very difficult to ride.
To check yoir wheel bearings, just lift front wheel off floor and see if you get movement when trying to move rim left to right, you should not feel movement. I don't mean with wheel between your legs and using bars, just minimum lateral force.
The test you are doing using bars, puts a lot of force laterally on wheel so not surprised it hits rim. That is more force than when climbing steep hill out of saddle, which is where you expect most wheel flex.