maybe this will attract more answers…i have a loose headset…no matter what i do it doesnt go away…carbon steerer…recommended an expander like Tune GUM GUM or the Specialites Expandeur 1 1/8…so how does a fork become tight and not loose with the item in question expanding within the steerer…the fork sems to have like up and down, side to side play…it just doesnt make sense…thenin the case of the TUNE GUM GUM they say you can remove the bolt after the steerer is tight…so, if the expander works by tightening the bolt and thus making it expand as it tightens…then if you remove it, surely the expander will contract again…and thus you lose the expansion…
ok - the expander bolt grips the inside of the steerer. you place enough spacers under the cap so when you tighten the expander bolt it will pull up the steerer. If the steerer tube tops out and hits the cap, you won’t be able to tighten the headset, use another or a longer spacer. After you get the headset tight enough so it doesn’t have play but you still can turn easily enough, tighten the stem. It sounds like you need another or a longer spacer between the cap of the expander bolt and the stack.
have you recently swapped out the stem? Stems can be different lengths in the area where they fit around the steerer tube. I moved from a Thompson to a Salsa and had to go buy another spacer to get the headset tight.
also - do all these adjustments while the stem is loose on the steerer, and make sure you tighten it up properly afterwards. You can’t rely on the expansion bolt to hold in the fork, this is the job of the stem on a threadless headset.
…at last…it clicked in my head and I did it!..after reading all you guys said etc…and i hope my explanation will help the newbies out there…
I have ‘play’ when i lift the bike’s front wheel and put it back down…and it has forward/backwards play if i hold the front brake and push forward on it…
…so i need to tighten from directly above - hence why you have to have a spacer that is above the end of the steerer (about 5mm longer i would say) thus you can tighten and push down on it with the bolt screwing downwards into the steerer as it were from the cap…and tighten from side to side - hence the use of a an expander that tightens outwards from the inside of the steerer…
both these actions serve to eliminate the ‘play’…
Thanks for your help everyone…the penny finally dropped! Its 4am here in Europe…im off to bed!
S