Fuji Headset Adjustment
10-22-18, 11:08 PM
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Fuji Headset Adjustment
I have a recent Fuji road bike. The headset is loose. I have studied every video I can find on headset adjustments but am having trouble taking out the looseness.
I tried adding a small spacer ring with no luck.
The headset nut seems to be aluminum and I am unwilling to torque it too hard, but I have not yet been able to snug the headset bearings up yet.
The stem clamps are loose and there seems to be adequate clearance from the headset tube and the clamp top.
Any advice?
I tried adding a small spacer ring with no luck.
The headset nut seems to be aluminum and I am unwilling to torque it too hard, but I have not yet been able to snug the headset bearings up yet.
The stem clamps are loose and there seems to be adequate clearance from the headset tube and the clamp top.
Any advice?
10-22-18, 11:21 PM
#2
Senior Member
Is the preload bolt threading into a star nut or a expanding plug? If it's a plug, is there a chance it's slipping?
10-23-18, 12:43 AM
#3
Newbie
Thread Starter
Fuji Headset Adjustment
I have disassembled the headset assembly and it has two expanding plugs, one top and one bottom expanding into a roughened aluminum sleeve.
10-23-18, 04:29 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
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Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
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Could you be seeing one plug that has come apart? Or two but the lower one was given up on by some one before you? It's hard to know without better descriptions or photos what's really going on. "The headset nut seems to be aluminum" make me think you have a threaded steerer and thus a threaded headset. Yet you mention expander plug which are found on threadless units. Andy
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AndrewRStewart
AndrewRStewart
10-29-18, 12:10 AM
#5
Newbie
Thread Starter
Could you be seeing one plug that has come apart? Or two but the lower one was given up on by some one before you? It's hard to know without better descriptions or photos what's really going on. "The headset nut seems to be aluminum" make me think you have a threaded steerer and thus a threaded headset. Yet you mention expander plug which are found on threadless units. Andy
I loosened the steering tube clamps and tried again to take up the looseness in the headset and could get it mostly out, but the nut feels quite tight. There is a lock washer under the top tension nut that I wonder about.
10-29-18, 09:15 AM
#6
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 18,056
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
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Common issues are the stem and spacers are not tall enough to allow the top cap to not contact the steerer's end, as in the cap bottoms out against the steerer. Adding another or taller spacer solves this. If the expander plug isn't tight inside the steerer it can slip and slide upwards from the top cap bolt's force and the plug ac bottom out against the cap without having acted on the steerer (and the headset). I have found many plugs like tom be taken apart and lubed up on their conical/wedge surfaces to better allow that sleeve to expand and therefore grip the steerer's ID. Of course if the stem clamp bolts are not loose the stem won't be able to slide during the bearing adjustment. If the spacers have gotten tight (corrosion) onto the steerer they act as though they were clamped around the steerer. Removing them, cleaning off the contact surfaces and lube helps here. The headset's top assembly usually has some sort of a centering aspect, often a conical ring with it's own slot and nestles into a matching conical shape on the top bearing cup/race. If this conical ring (compression ring) is stuck on the steerer it won't move to accommodate a bearing preload change (the bearing adjustment).
Does this make sense to you? Andy
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AndrewRStewart
AndrewRStewart
11-04-18, 11:19 PM
#7
Newbie
Thread Starter
I believe what you describe is not what is usually called the headset but is the expander plug. The plug can have a top and a bottom cone/wedge between which is a sleeve (with a lengthwise slot to allow it to, well, expand). As the tow cones/wedges are drawn together by a threaded "bolt" they act on this sleeve. This assembly needs to grip the inside of the fork's steerer and do so strongly enough to stay put while the top cap's draw bolt (the cap contacts either the stem or the spacers above the stem) is tightened. If the expander plug is properly placed and is tightly secured then the force that the top cap's draw bolt needs to have is fairly low, just enough to pressure the stem/spacers down on the steerer.
Common issues are the stem and spacers are not tall enough to allow the top cap to not contact the steerer's end, as in the cap bottoms out against the steerer. Adding another or taller spacer solves this. If the expander plug isn't tight inside the steerer it can slip and slide upwards from the top cap bolt's force and the plug ac bottom out against the cap without having acted on the steerer (and the headset). I have found many plugs like tom be taken apart and lubed up on their conical/wedge surfaces to better allow that sleeve to expand and therefore grip the steerer's ID. Of course if the stem clamp bolts are not loose the stem won't be able to slide during the bearing adjustment. If the spacers have gotten tight (corrosion) onto the steerer they act as though they were clamped around the steerer. Removing them, cleaning off the contact surfaces and lube helps here. The headset's top assembly usually has some sort of a centering aspect, often a conical ring with it's own slot and nestles into a matching conical shape on the top bearing cup/race. If this conical ring (compression ring) is stuck on the steerer it won't move to accommodate a bearing preload change (the bearing adjustment).
Does this make sense to you? Andy
Common issues are the stem and spacers are not tall enough to allow the top cap to not contact the steerer's end, as in the cap bottoms out against the steerer. Adding another or taller spacer solves this. If the expander plug isn't tight inside the steerer it can slip and slide upwards from the top cap bolt's force and the plug ac bottom out against the cap without having acted on the steerer (and the headset). I have found many plugs like tom be taken apart and lubed up on their conical/wedge surfaces to better allow that sleeve to expand and therefore grip the steerer's ID. Of course if the stem clamp bolts are not loose the stem won't be able to slide during the bearing adjustment. If the spacers have gotten tight (corrosion) onto the steerer they act as though they were clamped around the steerer. Removing them, cleaning off the contact surfaces and lube helps here. The headset's top assembly usually has some sort of a centering aspect, often a conical ring with it's own slot and nestles into a matching conical shape on the top bearing cup/race. If this conical ring (compression ring) is stuck on the steerer it won't move to accommodate a bearing preload change (the bearing adjustment).
Does this make sense to you? Andy
