Index Steering - Is it dangerous ?

mr_eddy

So my current commuter bike is a 91 Giant Peloton 'Superlite' (defo not light) and whilst its been maintained it has a particular issue. The steering is self centering i.e there is a notch in the headset meaning it goes back to center.

I have seen this before and ultimately new bits will resolve but I really don't fancy taking it apart and spending more cash on it so my question is simple if I leave as is is it going to cause any sudden failure or be unsafe ?

Personally I think it should be fine and I don't notice out on the road - There is no play in the headset

Thoughts ?

cooldad

Never heard of 'self centering' steering on a bike. Is it broken or supposed to be like that.

dodgy

cooldad wrote:

Never heard of 'self centering' steering on a bike. Is it broken or supposed to be like that.

It's pretty common on road bikes that have done some miles on the same headset. Most of the time, a road bike is going along with steering straight ahead, this eventually leads to a notch forming in the headset which causes 'index steering' as you used to hear it described.

mr_eddy

I have had it before on another bike - Tends to be older bikes as they tend to have done more miles I wanted to just check that its just a annoyance rather than something that could lead to major failure ?

cooldad

Aaah. I see.

fenix

Yeah one of mine went like that. It wasn't an issue really - it didnt stop you turning the bars when needed and most of the time you're going in a straight line anyway. So not dangerous.

buckmulligan

I'd be temped to drop the fork out and inspect the fork crown, steerer tube and head tube for any cracks or damage. The reason I say is because you don't get a brinelled headset from riding along smooth tarmac, you get it from slamming into potholes and accumulating lots of miles on rough roads. A damaged headset in itself isn't going to cause any carnage but it could be indicative of bigger problems.

Furthermore, it's an area of the bike where you really don't want a catastrophic failure and end up like George Hincapie in Paris-Roubaix.

keezx

As long as you keep your hands on the bars it's not dangerous, but riding with "no hands "is increasingly.
Asking for trouble, fix ASAP.

Harry182

As noted above - it's very likely a worn headset - bearings have worn matching pits into the race. Don't know if it's dangerous but I wouldn't try riding no-hands and the wear will prob accelerate to the point that it's unusable. I'd replace the headset sooner rather than later.

bobones

Caused by brinelling. I had it on my Scott CR1 with the stock headset after not all that much riding. It never really bothered me and when I serviced the headset by cleaning and regreasing the headset it went away, probably due to the bearings sitting in a different position relative to cups. Unless your steering is really tight or there is a massive amount of play in the headset, it is highly unlikely to be dangerous.

cycleclinic

Indexed or quantisied steering is not good. Replace the whole headset if it has caged balls or the cartridge bearing depending on what it is.

First.Aspect

thecycleclinic wrote:

Indexed or quantisied steering is not good. Replace the whole headset if it has caged balls or the cartridge bearing depending on what it is.

Clearly it isn't ideal, but it has to feel really bad in the stand to be much of an issue on the road. Its one of those jobs you can do at a convenient time rather than taking it off the road immediately.

I rode with a knackered headset for about a year before I got round to replacing it. No doubt bike industry professionals would have been appalled, but I appear still to be alive.

One quick fix with cartridge bearings, unless you have a tapered headset, is swap the top and bottom bearings. The top will be fine because it barely takes any load and doesn't get road sh!t thrown at it. A knackered lower bearing will probably also feel okay (or at least less bad) on the top.