Right, I have a Orbea Ora and the headset loosens slightly during every ride. I have cranked the thing (star fangled nut replacement for a carbon steerer tube) and the top cap as tight as they will go, and this still happens.
Anyone else dealing with something similar?
The star nut should only serve to pre-load the headset bearings and shouldn’t be cranked down. Are you loosening the stem bolts first? Is the fork sitting flush on the bottom of the head tube with a properly installed race?
Sounds like the nut is working its way up the steerer. I had a similar thing happen on one of my bikes and it was a PITA to get it really seated. I can’t really describe what I did, lots of trial and error. Make sure that when you’r tightening the top cap you start with the nut deep in the tube.
This happened to me a while back. Turns out they had cut the fork tube too short and only the bottom half of the stem was clamping on. The top part had nothing to hold on to. This is a huge hazard because when the headset comes loose it starts to rub the inside part of the steerer tube (carbon in my case) eventually wearing it thin. It could snap at any moment. Have it checked out immediately.
yup yup and yup.
the cranking only happened out of frustration after this has kept happening. I have had my shop reinstall the headset and fork to see if they could solve it. Still coming loose.
The only thing I could think of causing it, is that the cut (my shop made on the fork steerer) seems to be every so slightly off even. I am probably going to rip it a part this week and see if I can make a straight cut (still have a half inch to work with). I’m not sure this will help or not.
The cut of the steerer has nothing to do with this–don’t cut it.
I can think of 2 possibilities:
-the headset bearing is still ‘seating’ itself if it’s an integrated h/s and the headtube isn’t properly machined (or if there’s paint residue, etc).
-(more likely) the stem is slipping slightly on the steerer. With my Blackwell fork, the headset just wouldn’t stay tight because the stem slipped slightly on the steerer. I put some of that carbon paste on it and that solved the problem.
maybe I didn’t read everything closely enough, but are you sure there’s enough of a gap above the steerer for the cap to tighten down without ‘bottoming out’ against the top of the steerer, in which case you could add a small spacer above the stem to give it more room to compress?
Carbon Paste? Where might I be able to get it?
I was thinking the same thing.
jaretj
Maybe you can “assist” the compression plug by using a locking spacer, like the one IRD makes. Here is the link, scroll down to see the OPS Locking Headset Spacer. It might be able to fit, since you have 1" of steerer left.
Carbon paste is basically a grease like substance with small granules to provide friction. It’s often called assembly paste.
took it into the LBS and asked them to use the assembly paste. Been two rides now (160km) and it hasn’t moved.
Thanks guys!