My headset appears to be a bit loose on my road bike. It is a 2002 Cannondale that I picked up used on eBay this summer. It has an integrated Campy threadless headset, and although I am tightening the bolt on top, it doesn’t seem to be eliminating the rattle and tightening the fork to the frame. What could be going on here? Thanks for any advice. I assume this is one of the reasons people like to bitch about integrated headsets.
Keith
Is this a carbon steerer with an expansion plug type device or an alloy stem with a star nut? Without loosening the stem clamp bolts, try to take the top cap off to see how high the top of the steerer tube comes inside the stem. If there is less than about 2-3mm of gap between the top of the stem and the fork’s steerer tube, some top caps with ‘ridges’ or profiles to fit inside the stems opening will be hindered by the amount of steerer tube which will limit the amount of tension the top cap can impart.
You are loosening the stem before you tighten the cap bolt, right?
I’ve never had problems with the headset on my Cannondales, they seem reliable though you should clean and lube them from time to time if you suspect water got in them.
Make sure you have enough spacers to give you the clearance MS6073 is talking about.
If the other idea about loosening the stem prior to tightening doesn’t work, make sure you have all the headset parts and that they’re in good condition. The link below will lead you to manuals that includes the SI headset.
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/tech/manuals.html
Good luck.
Yep
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I’ll check it out. Thanks, Keith
Thanks for the link, good stuff
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