|   Ovalized head tube? | DSR
Oct 4, 2002 8:24 AM | | Can someone describe what exactly an ovalized head tube is? How it happens? Are steel bikes more susceptible? Any way to fix?
My steering is feeling a little rough. It's probably just my headset, but I'm afraid it's frame related. And "ovalized head tube" sounds really bad!
Thanks.
S |
| It is really bad... | FSRslug
Oct 4, 2002 9:03 AM | | ...you don't want that to happen to you. There is no way to fix it and have it still rideable and safe. It happens when you ride with your headset loose for a long time. It usually happens to little kid bikes. They ride them so hard and don't take care of them that they fall apart. I have yet to see a MTB frmae get an ovalized head tube, just BMX bike. What it is? It is when the headtube is not round anymore, it should be a cylinder, nice and round. When it is ovalized it become out of round. The cups dont fit right, you cant get the headset adjusted, so you need to buy a frame. |
| hmmm....interesting theory..... | TC
Oct 4, 2002 10:15 AM | | Hmmm, when the bearings are loose? i've seen a kona stinky with an ovalized head tube and it had nothing to do with loose bearings. especially considering most headsets have a cup that gets inserted into the head tube, that the bearings ride on. where do you get your information? if you know anything about downhilling or freeriding, you'd know it's not an uncommon occurance. |
| "Bearings"--That's a classic! | Matno
Oct 4, 2002 12:17 PM | | Where in his post did you see the word "bearings" or that they were loose? Don't knock something that wasn't said... |
| uhhhh. one post above mine.... | TC
Oct 4, 2002 1:34 PM | | an exact quote:
"It happens when you ride with your headset loose for a long time."
i haven't seen a headset without bearings, have you? |
| Yes, but that's not the same thing. | Matno
Oct 4, 2002 2:58 PM | | Loose bearings and loose cups aren't the same, although technically speaking, they usually go together. However, riding with a loose headset can definitely ovalize your headtube, especially if the cups are not fully seated into the headtube. The extra space in there (both in length and width) would allow the steerer to torque more in relation to the headtube. |
| Yeah, but ... | Philber
Oct 4, 2002 3:03 PM | | riding with your headset loose for a long time will cause ovalization of the headtube. So he was absolutely right. Yeah, sure you can ovalize a headtube with a severe impact, but for the average person it's gonna happen exactly the way he described. Who peed in your cornflakes? |
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