Hi everyone,

I have an older (early 90s) Raleigh mountain bike that I have owned since new and use it primarily for rails trails and general transportation (no actual mountain biking). I really like the bike but it has a headset problem. It has a 1 1/8 threaded headset which is developing play in it when braking. I cannot adjust all the movement out of it. I have cleaned and repacked the bearings which doesn't help it at all. This headset is a replacement model that was installed back in the late 90s and is a needle bearing type. So, I was going to replace it only to find out there is not a lot of options anymore in 1 1/8 threaded headsets. Chris Kings seem great, I like the cartridge bearing idea, however, they are rather expensive for a 20 year old bike. Other than that, there seems to only the Ritchey Logic available.

So, I have three questions, first, is a Chris King headset really that good? Is a Ritchey Logic headset good? I am super picky about looseness/play and overly stiff steering. Or, if I can convince myself to live with it, is a little play (1/16" or maybe less) in the headset when braking going to damage my fork/frame?

Thanks for any thoughts or advice!

Before you spend more dough, try to find out why you can't adjust out the play. One common problem with bikes of that era is bellmouthing of the lower head tube, so that the lower head cup develops play in the tube. All the adjustment in the world, can't solve that.

If it is a headset wear problem, you might be able to source a set of the bearings and races for the headset for less than a new headset.

I've got a bike where over the years the headset has slowly seated deeper, as the miles piled up. Eventually the threads on the steerer ran out. An extra washer took care of that.

FBinNY, thanks for the idea. I just checked the cups and they are in there nice and tight. No movement at all.

dabac, I had thought that might be the case too, however, when I checked out the cups and the headtube I saw there was plenty of threads left. I can adjust the bearing ever tighter but that only results in steering that won't self center. I almost think that the upper race (the lower nut that adjusts the preload-whatever that's called) might be the problem. This headset, a Toro brand with a allen key clamp type of lock nut, was always super sensitive to how tight you put the lock nut on. It will feel almost perfect until you start to tighten the allen key. Then, the steering gets too tight. It's a weird design. I think that tightening the allen key warps the upper race or whatever resulting in the play or stiffness. I don't know.

It doesn't warp anything but pushes the cup off center. This is a flawed design. The remedy is to try to adjust the headset and set the locknut (if it has one) without using the set screw. If it tends to loosen over time, you can use some rubber cement on the threads to help it stay home.

The other approach is to buy a cheap headset, and use the upper assembly only, keeping your still good lower stack until it dies, then changing that to the new. Since only the lower stack normally wear, you can use the same upper stack forever.

BTW- the other thing to check is for a bent steerer. Needle bearing headsets are especially sensitive to mis-alignment. Spin the fork and see of the top cup wobbles. If so your steerer is bent, probably from a crash and you didn't notice at the time.

Also check the threads on the steer tube. If the threaded cup has been loose for a while it may have damaged the threads such that they no longer can hold the cup firmly.

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all of your help. I was able to figure it out with your great suggestions. It turns out the problem is the lock nut. It uses some weird clamp style (hopefully the pictures of it will show up) that negatively affects the adjustment once it is tight. I tried adjusting it without tightening the allen key and no more play. I am going to replace the lock nut though because the whole thing won't stay tight without the allen key tightened some. Thanks again for all of your help, it is going to save me a ton of money.