Hi all,
See some traction picking up in the new speedmax threads so hoping I can get some help on this topic. When I first got my speedmax I had what I’d call a loose headset. When the front wheel was lifted there was some slight front to back play in it. I tried adjusting some parts to no help. Finally got a mechanic to look at it and he was able to get it adjusted to be tight with no rocking motion. He showed me which screws he tightened and said to make sure I did it if it happens again.
Now a few months later I’ve only been riding on the trainer and it’s happening again. Had to do a handle bar adjustment anyways as that got slightly out of line from my trainer riding so went to tighten the screws and when I torque them up to recommended 5nm there is still some front to back rocking. I’m tightening the two screws on the back of the stem as show here on pages 38/39 and called the ‘clamping bolts’
https://www.canyon.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-canyon-shared/default/dw4479fb54/documents/customerservice/Road/Canyon_Speedmax_QSG.pdf
Then while I had some parts off noticed what that photo shows as an ‘adjusting screw’ with a torque recommendation of 2nm. I checked it and it was extremely loose, barely even registering 1nm, so tightened that up quite a bit to the 2nm recommend and the front to back rocking is not quite as bad but still noticeable.
Just trying to figure out if I’m doing something wrong here or on the right track. Has anyone else had a similar issue? I’d rather not have to go to a mechanic every time this happens if it keeps happening.
I just went through this on a test bike… before adjusting the preload on the headset (with the 2Nm adjustment screw) did you also loosen the clamping ring bolt? Otherwise you are simply increasing the preload between stem cap and clamping ring but not of the headset bearings. See the last picture of page 38. As described, you need to steer the bike fully to the left or to the right and then you will see the small bolt located on a ring below the stem. On the bike I had it was actually a very small hex bolt (not torx as per manual).
If you would like a picture of where the small bolt is located let me know.
Thank you very much! This push in the right direction was exactly what I needed. I never realized there was a 3rd bolt for the clamping ring. I was reading right or left, turning it and seeing the two screws thinking that was it. I turned the handlebars to the other side and saw the third clamping ring bolt. The instant I loosened it the whole headset did tighten up as well. But just to be safe I tightened the top headset bolt to the recommended 2nm. and then retightened the clamping ring bolt a little bit.
Now another dumb question, can I adjust the straightness of the aerobars to the fork just with the 2 bolts on the back of the stem or do I need to loosen everything for that? I would think I can use just the stem bolts but I’m not sure how integrated everything is since it’s so tightly closed in there.
No worries, glad to be able to help. Yes, correct. To rotate the handlebars relative to the fork you only need to undo the two stem bolts.
Can you send a pic where the third bolt is?
Can you show me where the third bolt is? I don’t see it when I turn the bars left or right.
Here you go, see the attached picture. Handlebars are turned to the right.
