This video will show you how to adjust a threadless headless, found on most contemporary road and mountain bikes.

 

Difficulty:
3 star rating

How to Adjust a Threadless Headset

If the front of your bike feels clunky or the bike just gets hard to steer, the most likely culprit is the headset. Most of the time it just needs a simple adjustment and you’ll be riding again.

Below are instructions for adjusting a threadless headset. This is the most common type of headset today, found on almost all modern road and mountain bikes. (It is called the “threadless” headset because there are no threads on the fork’s steerer tube.)

Step 1: Check the current adjustment. Let’s start by checking to see if the headset is currently too loose or too tight. First, straddle the bike’s top tube, pull in the front brake, and rock back and forth. If the headset is too loose, you will feel it knocking back and forth.

Now to see if the headset is too tight… Straddle the bike’s top tube and lift the front wheel off the ground (hold the top tube, not the handlebar.) Then use one hand to slowly rotate the handlebars left to right. If they are hard to move or if you hear a grinding noise, the headset is too tight.

Step 2: Loosen the stem bolts. Before making the actual headset adjustment, loosen the hex bolts on the sides of the stem. (Just loosen them enough that the stem isn’t putting pressure on the fork’s steerer tube.)

Step 3a: If the headset is tight… Turn the headset adjustment bolt (on top of the stem) counterclockwise to loosen it. Start with a 1/8 to 1/4 turn, which is usually enough to loosen things up.

Step 3b: If the headset is loose… Turn the headset adjustment bolt (on top of the stem) clockwise to tighten it. Start with a 1/8 to 1/4 turn, which is usually enough to tighten it.

Step 4: Retighten the stem bolts. Now that the headset is adjusted, retighten the stem bolts to lock in the adjustment. (Be sure the stem and front wheel are still lined up, though!)

Step 5: Check the adjustment. Repeat Step 1 to see if the headset now turns smoothly without knocking or binding. The key is to keep the headset just tight enough so that there is no play back and forth.

Step 6: Readjust. Repeat Steps 2-5 if the headset still seems tight or loose. It’s not uncommon to readjust 2-3 times to be sure you got the perfect adjustment!

But if the headset seems right, go ride!