Headset isnt tightening?!?

gt-arrowhead

Hi, ive gone from 1 1/8 threaded to 1 1/8 threadless, and ive fitted everything including a new headset but all i have to do now is get it to tighten up and no matter how much i tighten the top bolt it makes no difference to how tight the headset is, the fork just shakes around slightly in the headtube. Grrr.

Ive got the star nut in about half a centimeter from the top of the steerer. And ive got the top crown fully loose and the stem fully loose to allow for it all to tighten up, but nothing....

Does anyone know whats going wrong??? Im 100% sure ive got the whole headset in there and im not missing anything...Quite baffled. Im going to leave it until i see what you guys suggest, to make sure i dont muck it up. I can provide pictures if need be.

Thanks for the help in advance...and sorry for being a noob, its the first time for me with headsets of this sort.

supersonic

So you have changed the fork too?

List all your kit.

cooldad

What's a top crown?
Try a pic.

gt-arrowhead

This is the kit:

Trailbright 1 1/8 threadless headset

Zoom 650 Triple Clamp fork

Zoom Stem


Ill get some pictures, should be up very soon.

By top crown i meant the clamp of the fork that clamps above the headtube, since its a triple clamp/dual crown fork. I think thats what its called anyhow.

gt-arrowhead

supersonic wrote:

So you have changed the fork too?

List all your kit.

Yep, ive changed the fork.

gt-arrowhead

jimothy78

Not enough spacers? Need the top of the steerer tube to be 2-3mm lower than the top of the stem or last spacer (if you have spacers above the stem).

supersonic

As above, the stem is too low on the steerer.

gt-arrowhead

jimothy78 wrote:

Not enough spacers? Need the top of the steerer tube to be 2-3mm lower than the top of the stem or last spacer (if you have spacers above the stem).

Ohhh. I didnt know that...
so is this most likely what my problem is?

I started to think that maybe my star nut is not in far enough, just reading up about how far down it should be, and most people say "inch and a half" "15mm" etc but some people say it varies, so...quite baffled. But thanks for pointing that out.

Im actually such a mong...ive just thought about it, and ive been tightening the top cap against the steerer which does....NOTHING! Im actually laughing at myself. Thanks for pointing that out to me mate. Now i understand exactly how a threadless headset works.

Thanks also to Supersonic and Cooldad.

Ill go down to halfords tomorrow and get a spacer and throw it under my stem. Should do the trick.

supersonic

Top of stem 3-5mm above top of steerer.

gt-arrowhead

supersonic wrote:

Top of stem 3-5mm above top of steerer.

The steerer is very ever so slightly higher than the stem at the minute. So ill get a spacer(s) that are 4mm in total, should be alright then.

Thanks again

cooldad

Get a 5mm spacer - just in case there's a bit of slack somewhere. New headsets also settle, so it'll need a bit of tweaking initially.

gt-arrowhead

cooldad wrote:

Get a 5mm spacer - just in case there's a bit of slack somewhere. New headsets also settle, so it'll need a bit of tweaking initially.

I just bought 3 spacers that total 5mm from halfords, ill put all 3 under the stem. Ill try and get it all tightened up again.

Thanks cooldad.

Chunkers1980

If you put them under the stem it will raise it by the distance, if you put them on top it will have the same effect in that you'll be able to get the headset to the correct tension, then you can just remove them if you like.

gt-arrowhead

Chunkers1980 wrote:

If you put them under the stem it will raise it by the distance, if you put them on top it will have the same effect in that you'll be able to get the headset to the correct tension, then you can just remove them if you like.

Yep. I was considering having them all on top but i ended up having them alll under as a starting point, then put them on top if need be.

Thanks.

Gonna go and test it down my local trails in a bit.