Originally Posted by
bampilot06
Had to make the call of shame this morning. I hit a bump, harder than I wanted to, and with me swapping out the stem yesterday I started thinking about my headset. I didn’t have any obvious play yesterday, but I honestly didn’t do a good job of checking. After I hit the bump, I checked for play and at first didn’t think felt any but I couldn’t be sure. I turned around to head home, stopping by parents for water and checked it again. This time looking at the bottom of the headset where the fork meets I could see movement when holding the front break and rocking it. I decided then not to ride it anymore.
I never felt any play while riding, should I be concerned? I plan on loosening the stem and then tightening the cap to 4 nm. My manual say 2nm, but that obviously wasn’t enough.
I suspect you should be ok.
I don't like torque specs for setting the preload on the headset, I prefer to do it by feel. Tighten it enough so you get just a smidge of binding when you turn the bars (with the front wheel in the air) then back off a hair so you DON'T get the binding. Then be sure there is no rock when you push hard on the front bars with front brake held. Rock back/forth and be sure there is no play. Also in case there is some settling in, recheck after a short test ride.
Others may have their own tricks, but that's my advice.