Headset constantly coming loose

lesfirth

Keezx wrote:

In 95% of all cases of loosening headsets, the bung not staying fixed is the cause.
The other 5% are "mechanics errors" , like lower race not being in place 100%, wrong model of bearings, steerer top too high, centering ring damaged or similar.
Not a shadow of rocket science...

Total B0llocks!

Are you are trying to wind me up?

My last post on the subject.

Try as you may ,you can take a horse to water but you can not make it drink.

veronese68

Keezx wrote:

In 95% of all cases of loosening headsets, the bung not staying fixed is the cause.
The other 5% are "mechanics errors" , like lower race not being in place 100%, wrong model of bearings, steerer top too high, centering ring damaged or similar.
Not a shadow of rocket science...

Nonsense. The bung or on ali tubes the star nut are only needed to tighten the top cap and put sufficient preload on the bearings whilst the stem is tightened. As has been said many times on this thread it is the stem that holds everything together after initial installation. The top cap can be removed, the only purpose of the bung after initial fitting is to stop the stem damaging carbon steerer tubes by supporting them internally.

michael7

I have a 25 year old bike, not a cheap thing, and the two not very nice looking spacers under the stem appear to be bound (stuck in place) on the carbon steerer. They won’t budge. So far I've only used a hand grip. Any suggestions?

brundonbianchi

Once the headset is correctly tensioned, and the stem is correctly tightened to the steerer, that tension is ‘frozen in’ you can sling the top cap and bung / star nut in the bin if you want, it doesn’t matter. As long as everything stays constant in the components, the tension won’t change.

brundonbianchi

michael7 said:

I have a 25 year old bike, not a cheap thing, and the two not very nice looking spacers under the stem appear to be bound (stuck in place) on the carbon steerer. They won’t budge. So far I've only used a hand grip. Any suggestions?

I’d say leverage is key to this. Very carefully wind on a long handled monkey wrench, and increase your torque very gently until the spacers release. If you’re super careful you could try cutting through the spacers with a dremmel ( or similar) and cutting disc, then putting a pair of needle nosed pliers into the cut and prizing the spacers apart, but there is a bit of a risk of cutting into the steerer.

david37

vice grip is perfect for this job.

michael7

brundonbianchi said:

michael7 said:

I have a 25 year old bike, not a cheap thing, and the two not very nice looking spacers under the stem appear to be bound (stuck in place) on the carbon steerer. They won’t budge. So far I've only used a hand grip. Any suggestions?

I’d say leverage is key to this. Very carefully wind on a long handled monkey wrench, and increase your torque very gently until the spacers release. If you’re super careful you could try cutting through the spacers with a dremmel ( or similar) and cutting disc, then putting a pair of needle nosed pliers into the cut and prizing the spacers apart, but there is a bit of a risk of cutting into the steerer.

Yes, thank you. Cutting will be a last resort. Will try the hairdryer and mole grips tomorrow.

michael7

david37 said:

vice grip is perfect for this job.

Thank you. I’m a bit concerned about causing unseen damage to a spindly 1 inch carbon steerer.

michael7

While we’re at it can anyone find/recommend a 1 inch threadless headset? Only half decent one I can find so far is an FSA Orbit X 1 inch threadless at SJS cycles.

ugo.santalucia

25 year old bike with a carbon steerer? That is most unusual... fork carbon blades, yes, but typically the steerer was metal

michael7

ugo.santalucia said:

25 year old bike with a carbon steerer? That is most unusual... fork carbon blades, yes, but typically the steerer was metal

It’s a mk-2 C40 Team Lampre from around 95 but it has an old Look HSC carbon fork, not the original which was probably a steel precisa. However the early Star fork was introduced around 95 and the paint job was similar to the steel one. Been looking for a 1 inch Star fork for a while now. There’s two apparently new (really?) going on ebay for a mere £800 each so I won’t be getting one.

Ben6899

michael7 said:

ugo.santalucia said:

25 year old bike with a carbon steerer? That is most unusual... fork carbon blades, yes, but typically the steerer was metal

It’s a mk-2 C40 Team Lampre from around 95 but it has an old Look HSC carbon fork, not the original which was probably a steel precisa. However the early Star fork was introduced around 95 and the paint job was similar to the steel one. Been looking for a 1 inch Star fork for a while now. There’s two apparently new (really?) going on ebay for a mere £800 each so I won’t be getting one.

You could probably find a frameset (including the Star fork) for not much more!

michael7

Ben6899 said:

michael7 said:

ugo.santalucia said:

25 year old bike with a carbon steerer? That is most unusual... fork carbon blades, yes, but typically the steerer was metal

It’s a mk-2 C40 Team Lampre from around 95 but it has an old Look HSC carbon fork, not the original which was probably a steel precisa. However the early Star fork was introduced around 95 and the paint job was similar to the steel one. Been looking for a 1 inch Star fork for a while now. There’s two apparently new (really?) going on ebay for a mere £800 each so I won’t be getting one.

You could probably find a frameset (including the Star fork) for not much more!

Exactly.

bianchimoon

If I'm reading this correctly, I have had this ongoing problem with one of my bikes a Bianchi Intenso with full carbon fork, everything tightens up nicely, headset firm, but as soon as the stem is tightened to correct torque hold front brake and headset goes 'loose', release stem bolts slightly and rock solid. Only solution Is to find the sweet spot of safe torque which is slightly below recommended

drexel1975

bianchimoon said:

If I'm reading this correctly, I have had this ongoing problem with one of my bikes a Bianchi Intenso with full carbon fork, everything tightens up nicely, headset firm, but as soon as the stem is tightened to correct torque hold front brake and headset goes 'loose', release stem bolts slightly and rock solid. Only solution Is to find the sweet spot of safe torque which is slightly below recommended

Had this problem with a 2015 Intenso and changed the expander plug for a more substantial one than Bianchi provided. The original was a piece of shit but when replaced I have had no problems since.

bianchimoon

I changed expander as that's the first thing that came to mind, seems you can only buy expanders made out of cheese round here

ugo.santalucia

fuxxing expanders... I always mean to upgrade my forks to full carbon, but the sheer nonsense of expanders is putting me off.