Originally Posted by
toast3d
You did verify that it was the headset, right? Suspend the front of the bike off of the ground. It helps to have a repair stand, but you might be able to improvise something if you don't have one.
Take the front wheel off. Grab the *end* of one of the forks where the front axle goes. Feel for play. Rotate the forks and repeat the test as you rotate. If you're not feeling any play, then it might actually be the front wheel hub that's loose.
You're suspecting that the looseness might be where the hub attaches to the fork? I didn't do the test you described, but I'm pretty sure the movement is in the head tube because I looked up close and I could see a slight movement at the bottom of the head tube where the fork enters the frame.
Originally Posted by
Brocephus
I had a Cannondale road bike years ago, that I could never get the front fork tight enough on. If I tightened the headset up enough that I got rid of the rocking, then the headset was compressed too tightly and didn't rotate freely. But, any looser, and i'd get the rocking. After lots of screwing with it, i finally took it to my favorite LBS (who i actually bought the bike from) , and they agreed that something weird was going on with it, and it wasn't able to be correctly adjusted, and recommended i install a new headset, which is what I (they) ended up doing, and it was fine ever since.
Noted...
Originally Posted by
Trakhak
Check the bottom end of the head tube for distortion. Bikes with a 1-inch-diameter head tube that are ridden hard off road are prone to "ovalizing" there. I fixed it on one of my bikes using Loctite bearing retaining compound.
"Ovalizing".... I'm thinking that's what happened. I recently bought it used so I don't know its history but I can see how the stopping force could over time ovalize the bottom of the head tube. I just looked up Loctite and I see that its some kind of an adhesive that can fill small gaps. Between what two parts did you fill the gap?