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It's on my Brompton not a mountain bike. Been loose a while and it's loose ball so i'm sure the races are shot. It's a bit irritating but is it actually going to harm anything else if I keep riding it like that for some time before getting round to replacing it?
Probably isn’t doing your head tube, and it’s roundness, much good...
new headsets arent expensive, worth the money for not being irritated by it imo
Why not nip it up? It only takes a minute.
I suppose the play lateral & vertical could cause some damage to the headtube, potentially leading to it ovalizing the headtube or damaging the fork?
Other issues are the headset collapsing mid ride and locking up mid turn, etc. Could cause a nasty crash (especially with traffic, being a Brompton and all).
Plus turning the headset cups to dust so requiring a whole new headset?
Ovalising your head tube is a biggie, but also means some part is taking more than its fair share of stress from impacts/mass.
Well, except for the potential head tube ovalisation, scoring of the steerer and subsequent fatigue failure, potential siezure, and unpredictable handling (I guess that won't make much difference on a Brompton though :)), it'll be fine.
Get it sorted, get them to check nothing is damaged.
I’ve seen more than one frame scrapped because a headset has been left loose for too long (and a few more from incorrect installation)
scoring of the steerer
seen this a few times.
So I think the answer is just get it replaced ASAP and don’t ride it too much in the meantime. I don’t know anything about Brompton’s, but if it’s a standard type of headset it won’t cost much to put in a cartridge bearing one.
If it’s 1 1/8th I found an FSA Pig for around £20 or a bit less (it was last year I bought it so I forget the figure) which is very overbuilt and three bearings are still smooth a year on. It’s on an mtb that gets used for pump track / hopping on and off benches / rocks / whatever sonit doesn’t get an easy time.
I fitted it myself as the frame was cheap so I just drifted it in carefully with a block and mallet. If it were an expensive frame I think I’d have invested in a proper press.
See the recent Pinkbike review of the BTR Pinner. Clearly a different use but for the cost it is probably worth sorting sooner rather than later.