play in headset/forks

[Doyleyburger]

Yep I see it. Sorry stupid newbie question.
I saw it came with a new top cap I was looking at and didn't know what it did......duh

 

[Doyleyburger]

New spacers did the trick.

 

[Broadside]

I'm glad they have sorted it for you. Weird though that Giant provided it like that and the bike shop let it out the door in that state, not good on either count.

Did you get a different stem fitted when buying in the bike or was it the standard out of box stem?

 

[Doyleyburger]

I'm glad they have sorted it for you. Weird though that Giant provided it like that and the bike shop let it out the door in that state, not good on either count.

Did you get a different stem fitted when buying in the bike or was it the standard out of box stem?

Was a private sale mate. Not brand new from supplier

 

[Broadside]

That must be a different stem to one the bike was originally supplied with. Good stuff and glad it is sorted without any issue or harm done.

If the additional spacer bothers you aesthetically you can always trim the steerer tube down and then get rid of the spacer, you just need a good sharp hacksaw and some commitment once you start the job!

 

[Doyleyburger]

As far as I'm aware everything on the bike is original as it was only ridden once by the previous owner. The bike has me a little over stretched with a 110mm stem which I have tried to replace with a shorter one, but me being me, I went and ordered one for oversized bars. .....which I haven't got. Proper plank

 

[Cyclist33]

That must be a different stem to one the bike was originally supplied with. Good stuff and glad it is sorted without any issue or harm done.

If the additional spacer bothers you aesthetically you can always trim the steerer tube down and then get rid of the spacer, you just need a good sharp hacksaw and some commitment once you start the job!

Probably not. It's quite possible that the Giant store the original owner got the bike from did a shoddy job of setup (my local Giant store has let me down in a similar way), and this is why the guy decided to sell it. Thanks to asking on here, Doyleyburger has solved the problem, so well done there

Don't be too hard on yourself for buying an oversized stem. Giant's spec sheet for my Defy 3 last year - and in fact all the Defies at the time - said they had oversize handlebars, but none of them did.

I do love my Giant and am 99% certain I would buy again, but I really think I would have to find a decent mechanic first!

 

[Doyleyburger]

Cheers @Cyclist33 . Gutted it didn't fit as it was a nice white one that matched the frame ha ha.
Are these giant bars on there own in terms of diameter compared to other handlebars ?

 

[Cyclist33]

Ha ha, bad luck. You'll thank your lucky stars in time - white stems look cool for a short while then you start to wonder why you didn't stick with black. I couldn't say for certain but I think they are 25.4mm handlebars which was once the standard I believe. I have no idea why Giant used these sized ones instead of 31.8, nor why their seatposts are 30.9mm in diameter, but it does make sourcing parts a bit challenging!

On the original issue, it might be worth double checking that both the top and bottom bearing setups on the fork/headtube are all present and correct... Because it *could* theoretically be misaligned or missing parts in the bearing setups that made the fork steerer too long. If so, then simply adding a spacer would not solve the inherent problem I don't think. Just a thought.

Stu