amrater

Hi,
I recently found what looks to be about a mid-late '80s World Sport in near perfect condition, except that the top headset cup is too loose. I have tried a 32mm wrench (just a tiny bit too small) and a 36mm, which is too large. I unfortunately don't have a wrench of any size between those to try, and they don't appear to be too common. So before I track one down and find that it doesn't fit, does anyone here have any idea what the size could be? Or is there some reason my wrench just isn't fitting? I have ruled out the possibility of it being too thick.

fordfasterr

use a pipe wrench on it dude !

thats what I did... + the little nicks make it look "worn in" .. lol

well biked

Are you talking about the locknut on the headset? If so, you can use a big ol' cresent-style adjustable wrench for that. I'm a little confused about your saying the headset cup is loose, though. The cups are the parts of the headset that are pressed into the headtube. Are you saying the fit is not good with one of the pressed-in cups, and it's loose, or are you just saying the locknut needs to be tightened?

amrater

yeah, sorry my terminology may be a bit off. The locknut I had no problem with. I actually did just use an adjustable wrench. The part that needed to be tightened was the adjustable cup. At least I think that's the correct term. It's the topmost thing that contacts the bearings, if that makes it clearer.

Anyway, that was easy enough to hand tighten. The problem is that in order to tighten the locknut I need to hold the adjustable cup in place. This is what I need a wrench for, and because of the tight spacing an adjustable wrench is WAY too thick to slip in there. Even needle nose pliers are too big.

well biked

I think I see what you're saying, you have a threaded headset that has an adjustable upper cup, and it's the upper race that's pressed into the headtube. Most threaded headsets are different than that, the cups are pressed in, the lower race is the crown race and the upper race is adjustable, and the adjustable race doesn't usually have wrench flats but a sort of textured surface on the outer edge. But either way, there should be a keyed washer or spacer of some kind between the adjustable race or adjustable cup and the locknut, and theoretically the keyed washer separates the locknut from the adjustable part in such a way that it's supposed to keep the adjustable part from turning when you tighten the locknut. The threaded portion of the fork has a groove in it where the "key" goes. In reality, keyed washers/spacers can be a PITA, and sometimes don't work the way they're supposed to. I'd take a pair of channel lock pliers and see if you can hold the cup secure while you tighten down the locknut. Use a rag or something similar between the pliers and the cup to keep from marring the surface-

tellyho

Yeah, I've found more headsets on which I CAN'T use my headset wrenches than ones on which I can. I think I've used them maybe three times. My technique is vice-grips with a rag to pad, or large (12") crescent wrench.

amrater

hmm. Thanks for the responses. I actually did mess around with an adjustable wrench as well as some 'water pump pliers' but maybe I just wasn't persuasive enough. I'll have to try again and see what happens. I guess I'll feel a little better about it knowing that's just how everyone else deals with it.

halfspeed

Basically, you need a headset wrench. Here's the drill:

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=127

well biked

I don't see anything between 32mm and 36mm. OP says 32mm is too small, 36mm is too large.

halfspeed

I think Park used to have an hcw-8 which was 33mm, but it may have been discontinued. While I wouldn't put it beyond Schwinn to use a screwy size, the sheer number of them out there makes me a bit skeptical that the wrench needed to fix them is extinct.

Search says bicyclebuys.com still has them.

KLW2

I picked up a 32 X 36 wrench and filed one jaw of the 32 to create a 33...works on my 84 World Sport....