If properly adjusted and maintained, your bike’s headset should be one of most durable components on your bike. But ignoring this critical part can lead to premature wear, noise, poor handling, and even costly frame damage.
The headset fits into the head tube of your bike frame and connects to the steerer tube of the fork so that it can freely rotate—enabling you to steer the bike. Much of the component is hidden from sight within the head tube, and you might be surprised to find out that it’s made up of numerous parts, as many as eight and often more. There are also two main types of headsets, threaded and threadless, with threadless headsets being more common.
To learn more about how to maintain a bike’s headset, we spoke with Bicycling’s resident mechanic, Joël Nankman, who’s been fixing headsets and more professionally for 13 years. Follow the tips below for a trouble-free, long-lasting headset.
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Keep It Tight
Never ride with a loose headset. Improper bearing preload damages headsets and frame head tubes. Riding with the headset too loose will hammer bearings against the races, pitting the latter, and could eventually ovalize the head tube; too tight and pits will form on the races, giving an indexed, notchy feel when turning.
To tighten a threadless headset, loosen the stem bolts, then locate the preload bolt at the top of the headset and turn it clockwise (remember, ‘right-tighty’) using the correct size hex wrench. You want to tighten it just enough so the bar turns freely, and there is no play. There usually isn’t a recommended torque spec for headsets, Nankman says. “It is really a feel thing, and trial and error.” Next, remember to tighten up the stem bolts after the adjustment.
If you have a threaded headset, loosen the locknut at the top using a wrench. This will allow you to access the adjustable cup (also called a ‘race’) below it that fits into the top of the head tube and loosen or tighten it as needed. Once adjusted, hold the adjustable cup in place with a wrench and tighten down the locknut to secure it in place.
Clean and Grease
Water contamination can kill even the highest-quality, best-sealed headsets. Creek crossings and bike washes push water past seals, where it works through the grease bearings to cause corrosion. Clean your bearings and regrease them using a quality, waterproof lube—Nankman recommends Finish Line premium grease ($8). In wet regions, repeat four times a year.
Use Quality Components
To ensure maximum bearing life and perfect adjustment, it’s important that your frame is perfectly faced and reamed; essentially, the head tube needs to be well-constructed and free of defects so the headset fits perfectly. Unless you’re knowledgeable about bike frames and components, you likely won’t notice any frame defects until a problem arises, and you bring it to the shop.
But what you can control are the components you might add to it. Use quality headset spacers and a quality stem—some inexpensive options are improperly faced, causing uneven loading of bearings, excess wear, and difficult adjustment.
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Troubleshooting Headset Problems
A creaking or clicking headset can be a sign of trouble. If you’ve cleaned and greased the bearings and eliminated problems in the bar, stem, and cables as the source of the noise, inspect the cups in the head tube. Rock the bike back and forth with the front brake engaged and your hand on the cup and frame. Feel movement? It means you have an ovalized or nonspec head tube.
Installing a New Headset
Signs that you might need a new headset, according to Nankman, include “excessive rust and excessive play in the bearings.” But, maybe you just want a new headset in a different color.
Installing some new threadless headsets—namely, the older ‘standard’ style and internal style—will require using proper headset presses and crown-race-setting tools. Makeshift tools like blocks of wood and a hammer or bench vice are great for damaging the headset and frame instead.
If you don’t have the right tools for those, Nankman recommends taking your bike to your local bike shop, since they may not be worth buying given how infrequently you’ll use them. Plus, a shop can make sure you get the right size headset.
But the most common type of threadless headsets nowadays are integrated headsets, where the bearings can simply be placed into the head tube (along with any accompanying parts like races, washers, compression ring, and dust cover); just apply a light coating of grease to where the bearings will fit inside the head tube. The headset size and angle are often printed on the bearings, so check your old ones to help figure out sizing.
Still, the preload bolt on an integrated headset secures to a star nut that is tightly and precisely fitted inside the head tube. You may not need to replace the star nut when replacing your headset, but if you do, you’ll need a threadless headset nut setter tool, like this one from Park Tool, or you can take it to your local bike shop.
When she’s not out riding her mountain bike, Jessica is an editor for Popular Mechanics. She was previously an editor for Bicycling magazine.
