I mentioned that my headset or steering extension seemed loose. Sulaiman and I inspected it this afternoon. Disappointing.
Before I even got to the root cause of the headset, I discovered a serious problem. I don’t know whether its Dahon manufacturing or Speedmatrix Singapore that’s at fault. Regardless, the person who put together the fork and headset cross-threaded the soft aluminum internal headset. Really bad. When I unscrewed the fitting that secures the steerer tube and headset, the aluminum just stuck to the bolt threads like a bad chalky powder. There’s no gripping power left, and there’s no part to replace — the frame itself is damaged internally.
Anyway, we did a GI Joe fix. Sulaiman found a star-fangled nut, bolt, and a plug and we were able to clamp down the headset in a different way.
The new headset didn’t fix much — the fork still had play in it. Sulaiman’s man fussed with the bike while Sulaiman and I were discussing other stuff. He got rid of the headset play, although the steering feels a bit tight and gravelly. I may try to loosen it a bit to see if I can gain some freedom without getting headset wiggle.
Sulaiman and discussed the possibility the cones themeslves may not be properly aligned. Really what I need to do is tear down the whole headset/fork assembly and figure out what’s happening with these bearings and cones. Only then can I get a comprehensive fix.
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