Loosening integrated headset

[litespeeder]

Hi There, can anyone help before the damage is done, anything appreciated.....

My 'Integrated headset is starting to wear loose, upon investigation there is no 'star nut' underneath the carbon 'bung' on the carbon steering column, is this correct for a Int headset. (bike purchsed from wiggle 12 months ago but only just noticed the movement)

Is this an adjustment from the fork blade underside? or a job for tapping at the LBS,

I am capable of servicing bikes, although this style of headset is new to me.
Thanks

 

[kyuss]

No need to worry, the carbon bung does the same job a star nut does on a non-carbon fork. There's no need for both.

Loosen off the two bolts that hold the stem in place before tightening the top cap bolt. That will tighten up the headset.

 

[litespeeder]

Loosen off the two bolts that hold the stem in place before tightening the top cap bolt. That will tighten up the headset.

Cheers KYuss

I've just read further that this is genrally a crap design,
http://www.chrisking.com/tech/int_headsets_explained/int_hds_explain_2.html
Quoting a para..
... an integrated headset can give the bike a nice, smooth looking front end, but the consequences of this change to your bicycle are significant. Simply put, the performance and lifetime that you expect from your new bicycle will be reduced, most severely in aluminum mountain bikes.

 

[kyuss]

I'm not convinced integrated headsets are as bad as Chris King makes out. They might be more suceptable to heavy impact damage but cartridge bearings when adjusted properly with no play will move so little (if at all) that it would take decades of abuse to cause wear on a frame. It's not the cartridge that moves it's the bearings inside it.

Integrated headests have been around for ages and I've yet to hear of anyone having to bin a frame because of wear caused by an integrated headset.

 

[fossyant]

Can't you change bearings on integrated headsets then ? - It was something Dan-bo and Longers mentioned to me a few weeks back - eek if you can't !

 

[Gerry Attrick]

I'm not convinced integrated headsets are as bad as Chris King makes out. They might be more suceptable to heavy impact damage but cartridge bearings when adjusted properly with no play will move so little (if at all) that it would take decades of abuse to cause wear on a frame. It's not the cartridge that moves it's the bearings inside it.

Integrated headests have been around for ages and I've yet to hear of anyone having to bin a frame because of wear caused by an integrated headset.

Agreed. Of all the millions of bikes which have been produced with integrated headsets, don't you think we would by now have heard of hundreds or even thousands of cases of frame damage if the system is as bad as CK makes out?

There is a world of difference between theoretical and practical engineering. Take the Titanic!

 

[k-dog]

Can't you change bearings on integrated headsets then ? - It was something Dan-bo and Longers mentioned to me a few weeks back - eek if you can't !

Yeah, you can change the bearings - the theoretical problem is that you can't change the cups - as they are part of the frame rather than the traditional type which come out.

So if, as Chris King thinks could happen, you either crash and damage the bearing 'races' (the part of the frame where the bearing sits anyway) or don't adjust it properly and wear them out, then you would need a new frame.

Like others have said they've been around a few years now and I've never heard of that happening.