Loose Stem Bolt

[JackRabbitSlims]

Hi.
I have been stripping down my old road bike for the purposes of a much needed clean, but also as a learning exercise on bike build and maintenance.
I have fully stripped the whole bike but have run into a problem with the headset.
I will attempt to post pics to help explain.

OK - Threadless head set.....removed the bars and stem, took off the top set of bearings, removed the forks through the bottom of the head tube - all ok. I want to clean up, inspect and re-grease the bearings etc.

So there is this bolt at the top of the fork stem which I unscrewed all the way out, now I have the bolt out, but the corresponding nut is floating around in the fork stem!!
What have I actually done? and how do I get this back together again once I have cleaned up the Headset and bearings.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions offered.

[Archey Sturmer]

So I started writing a reply, but I took a closer look at the photo and I sort of changed my mind. It's a bit hard to make out, but it appears that the cone shaped piece is held in place with a snap ring, and there's a nut loose underneath it. You can probably pop out the snap ring with an angled probe if you've got one, or maybe a couple small screwdrivers.

If you get that far, you should be able to pull out the cone piece and then shake out the loose nut.

If you're still with me, you can just reassemble the unit without tightening it much, slip it back in, and reinstall the snap ring with those small screwdrivers.

If I totally misread the situation from the photo, try to get new ones from a couple different angles and I'll try again.

[JackRabbitSlims]

Mr Sturmer,

Thanks for the reply - I know what you mean from your description, so I will give it a try and report back.

By the way - what is the purpose of these pieces in the fork stem? When I removed the whole piece, this bolt didn't seem to have any impact or influence on the removal of the headset.

Thanks once again for your help.

[JackRabbitSlims]

OK - so I got the piece out with a screwdriver (quite a bit of force) and this was the result......

Not what I thought it would be, but easily put back together.

[DaveM]

I'm guessing this is a fancy replacement for the "star nut" that threadless forks usually have. The bolt goes through the top cap and gives you a way to adjust the headset before locking it in place by tightening the stem's clamp bolts. But I've never seen one like this. And I'm not sure what the external thread on the bullet shaped piece that the bolt goes through thread in to.

[JackRabbitSlims]

Hi DaveM.

Yes - I think you are correct regarding the star nut - The external thread is there to thread / screw on a cap to the very top of the fork on top of the spacers.

Quite happy that I have managed to pull the whole headset apart, degrease, clean, dry and re-grease and re-assemble without any major problems.

I need to replace shifter and brake cables now, I don't think that will be quite as simple!

Thanks for your help.

[Archey Sturmer]

(04-12-2010, 10:52 PM)JackRabbitSlims Wrote:  Not what I thought it would be, but easily put back together.

Not quite what I was expecting either. Actually a bit simpler than I thought it would be.

The cable replacement job is not bad at all. If you don't have a fourth-hand tool, I definitely recommend one for the brakes. Check out the Hozan brand- they're only like 20 bucks.

[JackRabbitSlims]

Cool, thanks for the advice.

I have ordered both Brake and Shifter cables today - will pick up a fourth hand tool also.

Cheers.

[Bill]

Wow if anything thanks for sharing the pics I have never seen anything like this either. Wander if it was an aftermarket thing or directly installed.

[trevgbb]

So, the bike is an Eddie Mercx, the French do some curious things, they work, Jim, but not as we know them!
I remember years ago Peugeot bikes had different seat stem and hb stem sizes to everyone else, and on an old Citreon I had, you couldn't switch the headlights to dipped without first going to full.