top nut tool rec
05-25-26 | 06:17 PM
#1
Thread Starter
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From: Newport RI
Bikes: enough one would think, but thinking isn't my strong point
top nut tool rec
is there a tool for removing this kind of headset top nut? i don't want to resort to channel locks... i can post a better pic tomorrow... just got home from too much memorial day celebrating.
05-25-26 | 08:18 PM
#3
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From: PDX
Bikes: Merz x 5 + Specialized Merz Allez x 2, Strawberry/Newlands/DiNucci/Ti x3, Gordon, Fuso/Moulton x2, Bornstein, Paisley,1958-74 Paramounts x3, 3rensho, 74 Moto TC, 73-78 Raleigh Pro's x5, Marinoni x2, 1960 Cinelli SC, 1980 Bianchi SC, PX-10 X 2
05-26-26 | 04:31 AM
#5
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Joined: Apr 2009
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From: Seattle
Unfortunately there's a shadow right across what looks like a notch. Am I imagining it or is there a notch? More pics please, that bike looks awesome!
If there's a notch then you can use something like this:
...the smaller end. I think the generic term is C-spanner or hook-spanner. You can get a set of 6 different sizes for under $20 if you don't mind cheap Chinese.
You probably won't find one with "Lock Ring" mis-spelled, those are rare and sought-after, but the one spelled right is commonplace or used to be.
If there's a notch then you can use something like this:
...the smaller end. I think the generic term is C-spanner or hook-spanner. You can get a set of 6 different sizes for under $20 if you don't mind cheap Chinese.
You probably won't find one with "Lock Ring" mis-spelled, those are rare and sought-after, but the one spelled right is commonplace or used to be.
05-26-26 | 08:37 AM
#7
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,018
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From: Newport RI
Bikes: enough one would think, but thinking isn't my strong point
Unfortunately there's a shadow right across what looks like a notch. Am I imagining it or is there a notch? More pics please, that bike looks awesome!
If there's a notch then you can use something like this:
...the smaller end. I think the generic term is C-spanner or hook-spanner. You can get a set of 6 different sizes for under $20 if you don't mind cheap Chinese.
You probably won't find one with "Lock Ring" mis-spelled, those are rare and sought-after, but the one spelled right is commonplace or used to be.
If there's a notch then you can use something like this:
...the smaller end. I think the generic term is C-spanner or hook-spanner. You can get a set of 6 different sizes for under $20 if you don't mind cheap Chinese.
You probably won't find one with "Lock Ring" mis-spelled, those are rare and sought-after, but the one spelled right is commonplace or used to be.
05-26-26 | 09:04 AM
#8
aka Tom Reingold
Joined: Jan 2009
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From: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Brilliant. I will remember that, not only for this application.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
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Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
05-26-26 | 04:48 PM
#11
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From: Newport RI
Bikes: enough one would think, but thinking isn't my strong point
Last edited by cocoabeachcrab; 05-26-26 at 05:28 PM.
05-26-26 | 05:52 PM
#12
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Joined: Apr 2009
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From: Seattle
The steerer has a slit in it, and the pinchbolt clamps the steerer down on the stem. The English stems for headlips have no cone or wedge or expaner bolt, they're only held by the headclip.
The Cinelli sprint bike used a regular Cinelli steel stem with a cone, but the headclip added more stiffness. Regular stems, that tighten at the bottom only, always have a little slop between the quill and the steerer up at the top, so that sprint bike used 'belt-and-suspenders' for the ultimate solid connection.
Oh they also used it on their stayers (motor-paced track bikes), here's a Cinelli stayer, '50s I think:
05-26-26 | 05:59 PM
#13
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From: Newport RI
Bikes: enough one would think, but thinking isn't my strong point
That's called a "head clip". Associated mostly with pre-war English bikes, mostly gone by 1950 though there were a few holdouts, like the Cinelli track sprint bike as late as the 1973 catalog still came with a headclip.
The steerer has a slit in it, and the pinchbolt clamps the steerer down on the stem. The English stems for headlips have no cone or wedge or expaner bolt, they're only held by the headclip.
The Cinelli sprint bike used a regular Cinelli steel stem with a cone, but the headclip added more stiffness. Regular stems, that tighten at the bottom only, always have a little slop between the quill and the steerer up at the top, so that sprint bike used 'belt-and-suspenders' for the ultimate solid connection.
Oh they also used it on their stayers (motor-paced track bikes), here's a Cinelli stayer, '50s I think:
The steerer has a slit in it, and the pinchbolt clamps the steerer down on the stem. The English stems for headlips have no cone or wedge or expaner bolt, they're only held by the headclip.
The Cinelli sprint bike used a regular Cinelli steel stem with a cone, but the headclip added more stiffness. Regular stems, that tighten at the bottom only, always have a little slop between the quill and the steerer up at the top, so that sprint bike used 'belt-and-suspenders' for the ultimate solid connection.
Oh they also used it on their stayers (motor-paced track bikes), here's a Cinelli stayer, '50s I think:
05-26-26 | 11:11 PM
#15
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Joined: Apr 2009
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From: Seattle
Some mook in post #12 explained that as "that sprint bike used 'belt-and-suspenders' for the ultimate solid connection."
A stem that snugs to the steerer both at the top and the bottom gets the absolute minimum amount of slop.
Obviously the slop in a normal quill stem (without a headclip) is acceptable to almost everyone (like, say, Eddy Merckx), but sprinters are special — for at least two reasons. One is their horsepower, which can be twice what a typical roadie can put out. But there's also the psych factor, which in my experience is very important to sprinters. It's quite a mental game, not pure speed, and they need total confidence. Any detectable flex or slop puts them off their game, all out of proportion to how important that may or may not be to measurable speed. I built sprint frames for several national champions, a Worlds silver medalist and a 2x Olympian, so I have experienced this. A less charitable person might phrase it as "they're frikken head-cases", but I would never!
A stem that snugs to the steerer both at the top and the bottom gets the absolute minimum amount of slop.
Obviously the slop in a normal quill stem (without a headclip) is acceptable to almost everyone (like, say, Eddy Merckx), but sprinters are special — for at least two reasons. One is their horsepower, which can be twice what a typical roadie can put out. But there's also the psych factor, which in my experience is very important to sprinters. It's quite a mental game, not pure speed, and they need total confidence. Any detectable flex or slop puts them off their game, all out of proportion to how important that may or may not be to measurable speed. I built sprint frames for several national champions, a Worlds silver medalist and a 2x Olympian, so I have experienced this. A less charitable person might phrase it as "they're frikken head-cases", but I would never!
05-27-26 | 07:16 AM
#16
Old fart
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Appleton WI
Bikes: Several, mostly not name brands.
05-27-26 | 09:07 AM
#17
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Some mook in post #12 explained that as "that sprint bike used 'belt-and-suspenders' for the ultimate solid connection."
A stem that snugs to the steerer both at the top and the bottom gets the absolute minimum amount of slop.
Obviously the slop in a normal quill stem (without a headclip) is acceptable to almost everyone (like, say, Eddy Merckx), but sprinters are special — for at least two reasons. One is their horsepower, which can be twice what a typical roadie can put out. But there's also the psych factor, which in my experience is very important to sprinters. It's quite a mental game, not pure speed, and they need total confidence. Any detectable flex or slop puts them off their game, all out of proportion to how important that may or may not be to measurable speed. I built sprint frames for several national champions, a Worlds silver medalist and a 2x Olympian, so I have experienced this. A less charitable person might phrase it as "they're frikken head-cases", but I would never!
A stem that snugs to the steerer both at the top and the bottom gets the absolute minimum amount of slop.
Obviously the slop in a normal quill stem (without a headclip) is acceptable to almost everyone (like, say, Eddy Merckx), but sprinters are special — for at least two reasons. One is their horsepower, which can be twice what a typical roadie can put out. But there's also the psych factor, which in my experience is very important to sprinters. It's quite a mental game, not pure speed, and they need total confidence. Any detectable flex or slop puts them off their game, all out of proportion to how important that may or may not be to measurable speed. I built sprint frames for several national champions, a Worlds silver medalist and a 2x Olympian, so I have experienced this. A less charitable person might phrase it as "they're frikken head-cases", but I would never!
05-27-26 | 02:48 PM
#18
Bike Butcher of Portland
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From: Portland, OR
Bikes: It's complicated.
05-27-26 | 04:00 PM
#19
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