Realized I was overtightening headset bearings for 3 years straight

Had a customer bring in a bike with this smooth-as-butter steering feel and asked me why mine felt notchy. Grabbed a used Park Tool HPG-1 gauge and found my preload was way off - I was cranking it down like a lug nut. Anyone else had that moment where a simple tool showed you how wrong you've been doing something?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannaho5224d ago

Used to think I had the touch for this stuff. Felt like I could tell when it was good just by feel and sound. Then a buddy let me borrow his Park Tool gauge and I realized my steering was way heavier than it should have been. Kept cranking that top cap down thinking I was eliminating play when really I was just crushing the bearings. Bike felt like a different machine once I got it set right with the tool. Never going back to the guesswork method.

taylor8223d ago

Wait, you were crushing your bearings and didn't notice until you got the gauge? Man, that's rough. I've been there though, I guess. I had a buddy who could balance a quarter on his stem, thought he was a wizard. Turned out his headset was just torqued down so tight it'd barely move. He ended up having to replace his fork after he finally got a torque wrench and relaxed everything. Never going back to the finger feel method either.