Originally Posted by
anixi
Alan, doesn't this defeat the engineered/thought-out purpose of the tabbed washer? It seems to me that if the washer is loose that the headset won't work correctly, especially in the long run. As an engineering school person, it seems that you should either replace the tabbed washer if it's jamming in the threads, or use a new headset that has some other design that uses that "floating" washer method on purpose. That washer shouldn't move IMO...
anixi,
From a purely engineering standpoint, the tabbed washer is
supposed to help 'lock' the adjustable cup in place along with the top Lock Nut.
In the reality of production manufacturing, the tolerances on those tabbed washers in conjunction with the tolerances of the steerer tube slot
vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer, even within production runs of the same part. At best, it was a
Class B and sometimes a
Class
C fit between key and slot.
Invariably, the tabbed washer would 'stick' to the Adjustable cup in such a way that when the cup was turned, the key would slip out of the slot
and damage the threads on the steerer. By removing the key from the washer, the washer can float over the steerer threads without damaging them
yet allow the adjustable cup to move freely.
Think of the same application as the LH axle cone, spacers and Lock Nut. If you tighten the Lock Nut down tight against the adjustable cup with
sufficent torque, even with 5-6mm of spacers present (less than on an axle) the two will stay tight and not loosen.
Chombi will be fine running the spacers washers
sans the key... it's a more suitable method as opposed to having a thread damaged, unusable fork.
I have 1" headsets that have stayed tight using this method, and they've stayed tight and in adjustment for years until Overhaul time.
Alan
