Thanks everyone for your help with the stuck quick release.

On the same bike, I noticed there was a bit of play in the headset. I tried adjusting it as in the how to videos available everywhere, but when I get rid of the play the steering is either incredibly rough or non existent (binding). If I adjust for smooth steering, the amount of play is unacceptable.

The strange thing is, when I first tighten the compression cap till there's no play, the steering is acceptable (tiny bit rough), but after I tighten the stem bolts I get the roughness. I've tried tightening the bottom stem bolt first but that doesn't make any difference.

By the way, the bike is a Bianchi 928 L'una and the headset is FSA ZS.

- Wonder if all the parts in that headset are in the right position.

- Wonder if U have missing parts.

- Bearings are simply old and need to be replaced.

Good luck

just to add to the list above - headtube surfaces are not parallel, or possibly just the cups are not inserted squarely.

I had a stem that was out of square on the bottom edge. it had a bump from a weld that threw it out of parellel. I could not get the head set to stay tight for about a week untill I figured it out. It was similar to your problem.
also if you've ridden at all with a loose headset you could have ruined it and now the bearings are shot.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm taking it to a shop tomorrow. Do you think they'll be able to have it fixed before the end of the day? I kind of need it for a sportive the day after...

How did you fix it? Did you have to replace the stem?

Stems should be right but with some brands is just look at them to notice that the upper and lower edges are not that right. THats fizable reaming them. The bearing is easy to verify because if are old they have play, just take them out and move them. As for the headset in general go to the web and look at how those headsets are put together, all of them are equal, no idea if you have an integrated or semi-integrated headset tho.

And to finish, probably the start nut (if it has one) or compressor (if it has one) is lose??? Seen that before.

Good luck.

Really nice bike mechanic at the event took apart the headset for me. Boy, was their a lot of rust and gunk in there! Bottom bearing was beyond servicing but he happened to have a spare. Didn't have a spare for the top bearing, but it was still in (fairly) usable condition after a bit of a clean and greasing. Steering is still not perfectly smooth, but I was able to ride it in the sportive.

Another thing the mechanic noticed was that the carbon steerer had a groove around the middle, probably from the bike being ridden with the headset loose and not having been adjusted all that time. Is the possibility of it snapping high? Bear in mind it isn't a deep groove and there isn't any visible cracking to the carbon.

Of course there's a possibility. Carbon steerers have been known to snap even when in seemingly perfect condition. How much more likely than the normal odds depends on the depth and location of the groove, the leverage offered by the stem length, and number of spacers below it, and your riding style.

This is something you need to make your own judgment call about, or it might have been wiser to have asked the mechanic who actually saw it.

BTW- carbon doesn't tend to announce imminent failure with visible cracking, creaking or other signs. Failures tend to be sudden and total, so while calculating the odds also consider the consequences.

First I filed the weld bump flat and rode it but I was worried that I had compromised the strength and integrity of the weld. I contacted Profile Design and got a new stem for free. I just sent the old one it and they warrantied it for me.

wow! I would be afraid to ride that fork now with a groove in the carbon steerer. That could be fatal or at least a full upper and lower tooth removal.

I've got a question about the headset bearings. I'm looking at buying a new one for the top of the headset. Is there any difference between the blue and black seal FSA ACB bearings?

Personally i never read the seals colors because i have seen the same bearings with different seal colors, so I always go for the size... The bearing you have in there has an inscription at the sides, read it and find the same one.

It could say 1 1/8 x 36 x 45 or campy compatible 1 1/8 x 45 x 45 If you cant read it just look at the other one. the 36 and the 45 is the angle the bearing has inside, the frame cups and the compression ring are cut with and angle so obviously the angle needs to match.

If by any chance the top and bottom headset bearings have different numbers then that could explain the problem u had too. Some people dont realize the difference and just put whatever as long as it fits, with other parts u can do that but with integrated headsets u cant. So if you have them mixed u have to find out what your bike uses, I guess bianchi used campagnolo specs but I'm not sure.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. The headset uses 1 1/8 36 X 45 ACB and according to FSA, the model of headset the bike has would have originally used the blue seal bearings. I asked if the colour made any difference because I can get the black seal bearings a bit cheaper and have them delivered quicker as well.