Bicycle Mechanics - 16 y.o stupidness lol

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highspeedcycle
05-04-06, 10:30 PM
well, Months ago I upgraded & tuned my front & rear brakes, since the front brake carries most of the stoping power, I had the fun of doing endos & extreamly fast 20-0 MPH stops. Over the months, my fork develeped a slight rattle, I can feel & hear it knock when riding over rough surfaces or when applying front brake force. What could this knock be? It seems un-safe... What could I do to correct this problem?

I'm only 16 and I'm not a big dude so you would think the bike could handle what I put it through lol.

Thanks for your time.
Nick

wethepeople
05-04-06, 10:33 PM
What kind of bike/fork?
highspeedcycle
05-04-06, 10:35 PM
its just a Roadmaster mountain bike hahah

But its a hardtail/no-suspention. Could it be that the headset is loose? I didn't think about that until tonight...

Peek the Geek
05-04-06, 10:36 PM
I was just about to ask if the headset might be loose.
highspeedcycle
05-04-06, 10:40 PM
I'll check that when I wake up tomorrow... All I do is tighten the hex bolt on the top of the headset right?

sry lol I'm a noob to working on bikes and I will get a higher-end XC bike soon...

thanks
Nick
Peek the Geek
05-04-06, 10:48 PM
All I do is tighten the hex bolt on the top of the headset right?
Nope. Tighten the bolt all you want, but you won't tighten the headset at all if teh stem is still clamped on tightly.

Here's a how-to:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=65

Scroll down to the part under the heading, "Headset Adjustment - Threadless Type"
highspeedcycle
05-04-06, 11:00 PM
Aight Peek, that article really helped me. Tomorrow I'm gonna pull it apart and fix it, I'm sure this is the problem, I hope lol.

thanks
Nick
Peek the Geek
05-04-06, 11:20 PM
Aight Peek, that article really helped me. Tomorrow I'm gonna pull it apart and fix it, I'm sure this is the problem, I hope lol.

thanks
Nick

Glad it helped. If your headset adjustment loosened over time, chances are your stem might not have been clamped tight enough to your fork's steerer tube. Make sure it's good and tight.