# Proper headset tightness, should spacers rotate?



## jag88 (Dec 7, 2014)

Ok so I just got finished building a new bike. This has been a lot of firsts for me. I installed my own Cane Creek series 40 headset into the frame and cut my own carbon steerer tube. However I have a question related to adjusting the headset.

A friend of mine who is a bike mechanic decided to take it upon himself to "inspect" my bike and fix anything he thought I did wrong... when he got to my headset he twisted the spacers and said they shouldn't spin at all and then decided to (without my permission) adjust the top cap torque. He torqued the top cap down until the spacers didn't spin anymore. Only thing is that now the bars don't move freely, they are very stiff and I can feel the bearings binding up.

I tried to tell him that the bearings shouldn't be binding like that but he just told me to ride it like that and that they will break in... this goes against everything I have read on the subject. It seems to me that if the top cap pressure is so tight that it is causing the bearings to bind that this will destroy the bearings and or bearing races over time.

Thing is this, there is absolutely no way for me to tension the top cap and stem in a way that both stops the spacers from being able to be spun AND does not bind up the bearings... so my choices are slightly loose spacers or bindings bearings. My friend the bike mechanic says that having any movement in the spacers is much worse than a little binding of the bearings and that over time this will destroy the headset. I think he is incorrect, and it is my brand new bike on the line here not his.

I readjusted it now to where there is not any noticeable binding of the bearings but the spacers can be spun if you grab them and twist your wrist (they don't just move on their own, they are not *that loose). This seems correct to me.

What do you guys think, is my friend right or are my suspicions right? I just want my bike to be set up correctly.


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## Jwiffle (Mar 18, 2005)

You are correct. The headset should be tight enough that there is no play, but it should still turn freely without any binding. Generally, the spacers will not be easy to move, but I have never paid attention to whether the spacers can turn when adjusting the headset.


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## MerlinAma (Oct 11, 2005)

I adjust mine so the bars can't flop from side to side and certainly the spacers aren't loose. On the other hand, the bearings shouldn't feel like they are in a great bind.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

Since the preload on the bearings is expressed through the stem and spacers and not the steerer tube, it is contradictory to have a situation where the spacers are loose but the headset is preloaded properly. So, I would check that you have enough height of stem plus spacers such that they are higher by at least 3 mm compared to steerer tube.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

goodboyr said:


> Since the preload on the bearings is expressed through the stem and spacers and not the steerer tube, it is contradictory to have a situation where the spacers are loose but the headset is preloaded properly. So, I would check that you have enough height of stem plus spacers such that they are higher by at least 3 mm compared to steerer tube.


Exactly. I'm guessing the OP needs a few more mm of spacer stack so that when the top cap compresses it is pushing against the spacers rather than against the steerer tube (which it probably is doing now). And any mechanic who says over-tight and binding bearings will "break in" is repeating nonsense. I have heard this several times over the years and it is ridiculous on the face of it.


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## ghettocop (Apr 19, 2014)

The advice your mechanic friend gave is preposterous. That said, spacers should not be able to spin. Your headset is not adjusted correctly.


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

MerlinAma said:


> I adjust mine so the bars can't flop from side to side and certainly the spacers aren't loose. On the other hand, the bearings shouldn't feel like they are in a great bind.


That's exactly what I do as well and I never had a single problem with my spacers.


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## jag88 (Dec 7, 2014)

The clearance of the steerer tube isn't an issue, I just triple checked and there is about a 3-4mm gap between the top of the stem and the top of the steerer tube.


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## Opus51569 (Jul 21, 2009)

Personally, I tighten the stem cap until I can just barely feel the bearings begin to bind. Then, I back it off a 1/4 turn. Don't worry about the spacers. If your stem sits above the steerer tube, the spacers will take care of themselves.


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## ghettocop (Apr 19, 2014)

jag88 said:


> The clearance of the steerer tube isn't an issue, I just triple checked and there is about a 3-4mm gap between the top of the stem and the top of the steerer tube.


Well something isn't right. It should not go from play to binding. There is a correct adjustment in there somewhere. Is the compression ring in there correctly? Expander plug tight? Cups and/or bearings straight?


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## jag88 (Dec 7, 2014)

I think I found the issue. I took apart the entire steering assembly and repressed the cups to make sure they were nice and snug. I also realized I had put some grease in spots that grease was not supposed to be. 

But the big issue was this, I had the expander cap in the carbon fork too tight. This was causing a bulge on the steerer tube. The stem diameter was less than this bulge so even with the stem loose when I tightened the top cap it was in fact not pushing on the spacers but the steerer tube. Not because it was too short, but because it was too fat! So I readjusted the expander cap and put the whole assembly back together.

Now I have it where the spacers don't spin and the bearings aren't binding. It does feel a bit stiffer than it should but it doesn't seem to be binding.


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

If you have a bulge in the steering tube on your carbon fork and it has a Carbon Steerer tub - DO NOT RIDE THAT BIKE!!!! Go get it inspected by a qualified shop, that steering tube could crack and cause you to crash and get seriously injured or worse killed!


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## junior1210 (May 2, 2013)

Srode said:


> If you have a bulge in the steering tube on your carbon fork and it has a Carbon Steerer tub - DO NOT RIDE THAT BIKE!!!! Go get it inspected by a qualified shop, that steering tube could crack and cause you to crash and get seriously injured or worse killed!


+1 on getting it checked. And NOT by your friend who tried to gorilla torque your headset.


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## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

jag88 said:


> I think I found the issue. I took apart the entire steering assembly and repressed the cups to make sure they were nice and snug. I also realized I had put some grease in spots that grease was not supposed to be.
> 
> But the big issue was this, I had the expander cap in the carbon fork too tight. This was causing a bulge on the steerer tube. The stem diameter was less than this bulge so even with the stem loose when I tightened the top cap it was in fact not pushing on the spacers but the steerer tube. Not because it was too short, but because it was too fat! So I readjusted the expander cap and put the whole assembly back together.
> 
> Now I have it where the spacers don't spin and the bearings aren't binding. It does feel a bit stiffer than it should but it doesn't seem to be binding.


You could shoot off an email to the manufacturer of your particular fork and explain what you did. I suspect that their response is going to be that they can't tell via email what sort of shape the fork is in, and that anyway they only guarantee forks that are installed by professionals to proper spec. etc. I'll bet that they will point to a torque spec for the expander cap buried in the instructions that you apparently blew past, which voids the warranty and relieves them of any liablity should the damn thing break.

If you take the fork to a shop, their response will (or should) be similar - they can't tell if you fatally compromised the structure or not. Thus, the decision whether or not you will ride that particular fork rests upon what I call the Dirty Harry Approach to Predicting The Likelihood Of Catastrophic Failure Of Potentially Compromised Bike Parts:

_Do you feel lucky, punk?_






Because that's what it is going to come down to in the end - how comfortable you are riding it, because no one(shop, mechanic, fork manufacturer) in their right mind who sits in the potential chain of liability should things go horribly wrong will give you an unqualified clean bill of health on that fork. I'm not saying that it IS torched - carbon fiber is a lot tougher and more resillient than most folks suspect. Hell, it might be fine. I'm just saying that, having 'effed up the installation, it's going to be "on you" if you go ahead and ride it and it does break.


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