On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:14:14 +0000, Bob M wrote:

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 15:39:02 -0400, Rick Onanian wrote:

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:07:00 -0400, David L. Johnson
wrote:
again, every time you mess around with the stem, you have to re-adjust
the bearings.

Care to elaborate? I've adjusted and changes stems on my threadless-stem
road bike a few times, and if I missed something important, I'd like to
know...

Which bearings, and what type of adjustment?


Basically, you tighten the bolt on the cap until you feel no play in the
headset (which can be done by grabbing the front brakes and pushing the
bike forward). That's the adjustment. On a threaded headset, it's the
same adjustment, only you tighten large nuts that go around the steerer
tube.

But you only do the adjustment on a threaded headset once. For
threadless, you have to re-do each time you change anything about the
stem. When you remove the stem of a threadless headset, the whole headset
assembly is loose.

Yes, it's simple enough to re-adjust, though I do not like the idea of
trying to adjust the preload if the bearings are not clean and well-lubed.

We have all heard about people who couldn't adjust the preload on their
hubs; I see no reason to presume they could adjust the preload on a
headset, either. For them, raising the bar height means a trip to the
mechanic.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember
_`\(,_ | that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ
(_)/ (_) |