Originally Posted by Dial_tone
I believed this appeared after I moved the only spacer from bottom to the top. Maybe I'll put a 3mm back on bottom and see what happens. Due to the biconvex shape of the headset cap you pretty much have to have a spacer on top or the stem won't be clamping all of the steerer tube.
not sure what all you're sayin here, but reasonably one only needs about 2/3 to 3/4 of the stem barrel to be clampin the steerer, rest of the stem can be above the top of the steerer.
The other Q should be, iff'n you're 'adjusting' the cap down enough to remove play and then tightening the stem clamp bolts, why would the headset be loosening up? I've seen (and had) where the small compression ring works down even tighter over time, causing a tight 'notchy' effect, meaning the headset compression ring and the whole thing had to be loosened and readjusted again to remove the issue. Seems a problem on some headsets, most notably Ritchey...
But loosening after clamping down? Either you're not getting it truly adjusted, because (as noted before) the cap has already bottomed on the top of the steerer before reaching proper adjustment OR somethin is getting crunched down more as you ride, loosen and readjust even tighter. If thats the case and it continues I'd pull the fork and take good look at the whole shebang. Not heard of cartridge headset bearings getting seriously munched, but I guess it could happen.