Originally Posted by
SurferRosa
This is an example of how a bicycle works through a simple machine: two nuts lock together on a threaded bolt. It's how hubs work. It's how a bottom bracket works. It's how pedals work.
First, throw away the notched lock nut. As in, in the trash. Replace it with an aluminum headset spacer from your local bike shop. This will make adjusting your headset soooo much easier.
The adjustable cup of your headset has flats for a wrench. The top lock nut has flats for a wrench. Use two wrenches to lock these two pieces together with your new spacer in between.
You can use a regular adjustable wrench (without teeth!) on the top lock nut. Use a specific Park Tool headset wrench on the adjustable cup. Don't have one? Look on eBay.
Park Tools has excellent videos on YouTube.
I don't argue the result sought, an easy to adjust headset. I don't argue with the suggestion of removing the 3 notch lock ring and turning this headset into a two nut type. I have done as much myself a number of times over the years.
However the 3 notch lock ring and the threaded upper headset race together are a two nut system already. Adding the third nut (the common top lock nut) is just like Normandy and Shimano using three threaded fittings (one being the cone, the others the locknuts/spacer nuts) on the driveside of hundreds of thousands of rear hubs. One simply works the cone and the adjacent locking nut before running down the outer, and second, lock nut. I see the issue being one of tools and their use and less the number of locknuts. Andy