I’ve had a clicking noise develop from my headset recently which will go away for about ~30mi after I tighten the top cap a lot. More than I would want to, but the steering didn’t seem to be affected, and the noise went away.
Paid a visit to the LBS today and asked them to adjust it as they see fit to try and see what’s going on here and after they tightened everything back up, while there is no noise and the steering is good, I’m concerned about:
- The spacers are able to spin quite easily?
- The mechanic greased the steerer tube under the spacers?
I didn’t catch these items until I had left the shop, but I would love an explanation on what’s going on.
Please explain what black magic is going on with my headset
byu/DeathByPasta inbikewrench
by DeathByPasta
6 Comments
Forgot to mention that the mech dropped the expansion plug by a cm within the steerer tube as he said a possible cause of the issue was the top cap not having enough room to fully engage the headset.
[deleted]
I will break this into sections.
1. When you tightened the top cap, Did you loosen the stem bolts first? Because if you didn’t, they you were not actually doing anything except potentially break the bolt.
2. The spacers are just washers, they spin freely.
3. Greasing the steerer tube under the spacers can help prevent water getting into the headset bearings and is a good thing.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
It would be surprising if the bearings were adjusted properly and the spacers were still able to spin, as the spacers are there to push down on the top headset bearing by the correct amount.
It’s fine as long as there is no play.
My MTB had a super annoying click that mostly appeared when climbing in a standing position and leaning on the bars. It was fixed by replacing the headset bearing. Seems like that could be your issue as well.