There is a Loose headset on this Carrera bike. There’s movement when you hold the front brake on and Rock the bike back and forth.
The topcap so is done up TIGHT but looks like it’s sitting on the steerer so not really doing a lot.
Will a spacer above the stem pretty much sort this out?
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Should do - there's no preloading on the bearings as there's no force being exerted downwards when the top cap is tightened.
Yes, it needs another spacer.
Yep. Spacer needed. Make sure you've at least a mm or so above the top of the steerer. Top cap does not need to be TIGHT just snug to take out the play.
Ok .. spacers have made zero difference so I guess I have a bigger issue ... It’s never an easy fix for me!
There’s a fair amount of play.
Full strip down required?
Have you looked up how to adjust a headset? The first post suggests that you're not familiar with how they work so I'd start there.
Have you loosened off the stem first? The stem needs to be loose, then you tighten the headset top cap down, and then tighten the stem back up.
I only ask because when I swapped forks over yesterday I couldn't figure out why they hadn't dropped when I loosened the top cap, only to realise I hadn't undone the stem either!
Yeah I loosened the stem first.
I’ll have a closer look later
Cheers
Visually it needs another headset spacer as a minimum.
However normally when I get bikes in like that there are other issues, like no headset bearings, both headset bearings in the same cup, bearing races upside down, no compression ring etc.
Sorted! Bigyan’s comment regarding needing another spacer MINIMUM made me think and hey presto - A bigger spacer on the top (Bigger than I thought useful) did the trick.
Thanks all
For future ref- either the top of the stem itself or a spacer should always sit higher than the top of the steerer tube, by at least 2mm.
You need to use some judgement for the precise gap, but as a rule of thumb you need to make sure there's enough of a gap to allow tightening the top cap to draw up/down/in ('preload') upper and lower bearings, but not enough to allow the top clamp bolts of the stem to sit above the steerer tube top.
Good thread here:
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/17926553#Comment_17926553