Weird Instability Problem When Putting The Power Down...

in message . com,
Christopher Harrison ') wrote:

Many thanks again, guys, for all your suggestions... I've given my
bike a good, thorough looking-over today and what I found was that all
tubes and stays are straight and uncracked, as are the forks; and no
joints are compromised. As far as I can tell, the frame is in good
condition and in proper alignment.
What I did notice, however, was that when I rotated the headset, a
"clicky" noise emanated from the head tube. It moved freely, but you
could tell that there was something amiss... So I took the headset
apart as much as I dared/could [my mechanical skills are limited!] and
cleaned-up what I could see and got some oil in there. When I put it
back together, the headset moved more freely, but the clicky noise
turned into a consistent, and rather unpleasant, grinding sound.

You may have heard about the excessive-flooding in England, just
recently, on the news. I live in the affected region and, whilst my
bike wasn't directly involved, it's taken-on a lot more water and dirt
than usual just lately -- and I haven't been able to clean it (until
today)... As such, my best guess would be that perhaps the bearings in
the headset have become compromised (that is, water-logged!).
Would anyone concur: i.e. Given that, despite my lack of experience,
the frame looks fine to me and the horrible noise coming from the head
tube, would that be enough to cause this lurching problem?

Completely collapsed balls in the headset /might/ cause your problem, but
I'd seriously advise getting someone experienced to give it a good look
over. A new headset won't cost much, but some of the other things it could
be are dangerous.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

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In article . com,
Christopher Harrison wrote:
Many thanks again, guys, for all your suggestions... I've given my
bike a good, thorough looking-over today and what I found was that all
tubes and stays are straight and uncracked, as are the forks; and no
joints are compromised. As far as I can tell, the frame is in good
condition and in proper alignment.
What I did notice, however, was that when I rotated the headset, a
"clicky" noise emanated from the head tube. It moved freely, but you
could tell that there was something amiss... So I took the headset
apart as much as I dared/could [my mechanical skills are limited!] and
cleaned-up what I could see and got some oil in there. When I put it
back together, the headset moved more freely, but the clicky noise
turned into a consistent, and rather unpleasant, grinding sound.


You want grease in a headset, and lot's of it. However, even the
slightest binding can cause very wierd handling.

_ Booker C. Bense

On 6 Ago, 18:55, Booker C. Bense You want grease in a headset, and
lot's of it. However, even the
slightest binding can cause very wierd handling.

After reading all this, without placing any money on the initial
issue, I would urge Christopher to have someone adjust the headset, as
finely as needed with the proper tools.

Should the handling problem persist, I would take the bike to a
frambuilder's to have it professionally checked.

Sergio
Pisa

"sergio" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 6 Ago, 18:55, Booker C. Bense You want grease in a headset, and
lot's of it. However, even the
slightest binding can cause very wierd handling.

After reading all this, without placing any money on the initial
issue, I would urge Christopher to have someone adjust the headset, as
finely as needed with the proper tools.

Should the handling problem persist, I would take the bike to a
frambuilder's to have it professionally checked.

Sergio - he already identified the problem as a notched headset. Between
that and a too-tight adjustment you can have some pretty strange handling
problems.

Note that GREASE isn't the answer - he needs a new headset and preferably a
roller bearing version which lasts forever and more.

Hello

I got my bike back from its service yesterday -- the headset was
replaced -- and have just taken it for a good ride... It's fixed!
Yay

Thanks again to everyone for helping me pin-point the problem. It's
most appreciated

"Christopher Harrison" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello

I got my bike back from its service yesterday -- the headset was
replaced -- and have just taken it for a good ride... It's fixed!
Yay

Thanks again to everyone for helping me pin-point the problem. It's
most appreciated

As a note - that didn't happen because you were in a fall. The headset had
to be bad for a long time to get to that point.