What is the deal with headset adjustment with a carbon fork? I have a Litespeed with the Real Design HP Aero fork. It has the OEM Real Design cap at the top which connects by a bolt to a plug 3 or 4 cm down inside the steerer. I just changed stems and tried to adjust it the way i normally would with a regular aluminum steerer. I just kept turning and nothing ever changed. I wound up tightening it down all the way and never even locked up the headset. Yes, I has the stem bolts loose.
Dumb question probably, but does the headset adjust in a different way. The fact is it feels fine. In fact, it felt fine even whn i did not have the top cap on it.
And, yes, it is one of those top caps/plugs that goes into the steerer a few cm to keep the stem from crushing the carbon.
There is likely an expander plug down in the steerer tube that is “stuck” or the central screw is disengaged. I’d thread the top cap bolt, and pull the plug out - make sure it is working properly, and then put it back in. There should NOT be a metal star nut in a carbon steer tube unless a metal sleeve has been glued into the tube like Cervelo recommends.
Does the new stem have the same stack height? Maybe adding short spacer will do he trick. Also, it maybe that you need to bring up the compression plug up since it sounds like the cap threads are not engaging. Good luck.
You are supposed to first loosen your stem clamping bolts on the steerer. Then tighten the plug in the end cap of the steerer (only slightly) and then re-tighten the stem clamping bolts on your steerer. The headset will not “tighten up” until the stem clamping bolts have been retightened. Therefore if you just screw down the nut/screw in the end cap of the carbon fork steerer, the headset will never seem to get tight.
You might want to go to the Park Tools website and check out the correct procedure for tightening your headset.
I agree w/ Gil. Chances are you are tightening the top cap against the top of the steer-tube instead of against the stem. A spacer over or under the stem will fix this (if this is the problem).
just as someone else already mentioned, your new stem has a shorter stack than your old one. You will need to put a small spacer, probably 0.5 to 1cm ought to do it, above your stem between the top cap and the stem and then tighten the top cap.
alternatively, just loosen the expander and position it lower in the steerer of the fork, so that you start compressing the headset before the top cap screw fully tightens.
most expanders have an allen key accepting section within and below the threaded section that accepts the top cap screw. so try fitting an allen key into the expander (i’m not sure of the size) and turn anti-clockwise to loosen the expander. once it’s loose you can reposition it lower in the fork and re-tighten it by turning clockwise.
John - I suspect that the others are correct in that the stack height of the new stem is slightly less than the old one. The problem is that the top cap on the RD fork has about 2 cm of material that fits into the top of the steerer. More than likely, you’re tightening the bolt all the way butts the base of the top cap up against the plug, but the reduced stack height is causing the top cap not to make contact with the stem. You can either add a spacer above the stem, as others suggested, or get a replacement top cap that doesn’t have the 2 cm that fits into the steerer.
Sorry. I could not respond sooner. I see many of you commented on the stack and presumed the cap is bottoming out on the steerer. Yes, my new stem has a shorter clamp area. Which is why i put a 1cm spacer under the cap and have 2mm of spacer above the top of the steerer. So, i don’t think that’s it.
I think I figured it out. I think the plug had slid up so that my bolt bottomed out before it loded the bearings. So, I loosened the plug and slid it down a bit and that seems to have done it.
Does anyone know how tight the plug should typically be? My torque wrinch will not get down there.