Originally Posted by
joejack951
This seems to be becoming a common topic and I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone in experiencing cartridge bearing headsets with carbon forks loosening up.
You are indeed not alone. I've got a Litespeed with an FSA OrbitX headset an Easton EC90SLX all-carbon fork and a Forte two bolt aluminum stem. Even with a substantial preload on the headset and the stem clamp bolts as tight as I dare make them, the headset develops a slight bit of play every couple of thousand miles. As soon as I can easily rotate the spacers below the stem by hand, which is just before the headset develops noticeable play, I reset the headset preload.
Oddly, I have the identical fork, stem and spacer stack in another Litespeed frame with a Chris King headset and it NEVER needs to be readjusted. Why the difference? I have no idea.