Clicky Steering

irishmotorist

Funny thing has been happening recently on my Focus Cayo. The steering is 'clicking'. By that, I mean that it when the wheel is nearly dead straight, it will 'click' into the straight position. It's as if there is a notch somewhere in the steering column. If I'm walking the bike and pushing it by the saddle, it will take a bit of a waggle to unstraighten the wheel so I can turn it. If the wheel is turned and I push it lightly towards centre, it will 'click' into the straight position once I'm within a couple of degrees of straight. I feel the click when I push it the far side of straight.

I haven't heard it, it's a tactile click. It isn't a very strong click and while I think I have noticed it while cycling, it hasn't caused any problems. That said, I am very conscious of it in any very fine tuned manoeuvres - e.g. avoiding car mirrors at slow speeds at traffic lights.

It started happening shortly (immediately??...not sure) after a shop did a job on the front derailleur hanger for me. They replaced the derailleur cable and housing as part of the job. Initially, I thought the new housing was stiff or catching somewhere, but I think I can disregard that having had a look at it.

I haven't adjusted a headset or forks before so I don't know if the problem is likely to be there or if it's something else. Any suggestions?

Tenzor07

Headset bearings

Chips Lovell

Yep, that would be my first thought too.

gman2k

Used to be more common on threaded steerers, where the headset was overtightened so the bearings could be felt when steering.
I'd strip out the heaset, check for grit etc and any visible probs with the seals etc, regrease and reassemble.

letape

It could also be caused by having the gear cables/housing a little short and running tight either side of the head tube.

I would definitely check the headset and ensure it is properly greased and not over tight when reassembled.

ashleey

Went through the same issue with a focus. Tried cleaning the bearing cartridges but the balls were worn. New sealed cartridges needed. Cartridges are from FSA and can be bought individually from UKBikestore or as a complete headset from wiggle. It's either no. 43 or no. 33 I think. FSA codes are stamped on the cartridges. They are Campag fit and 1 1/8 th at top and 1 1/4 on bottom. Just the cartridges is cheapest. I did notice though that the thin FSA carbon seal lets water and grit in. A 15mm sealing cap is better and then use less 5mm spacers. I'll look up the codes

ashleey

Here is the headset

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/24202/FSA_Orbit_C33_Differential_Headtube_Headset

Look for cheaper though!

The bearing codes are 870 top and 970 bottom

victorcarrera

My guess is that the bottom bearing race is pitted in one spot due to hitting a pothole or similar. There is no need to change it though, just rotate the bearing shell by about 45 degrees so that that segment is not used any more.
I would be suspicious of the gear cable being changed too because the Cayo has cable clamps on the head tube.
Remove both cables from the clamps temporarily and retest.

ashleey

Top

http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/140/160_6483/fsa-870s-campag-stainless-micro-acb-headset-bearing.html

Bottom

http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/140/160_6738/fsa-970-mr082-1-14-acb-headset-bearing.html

ashleey

Found it on wiggle

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fsa-orbit-c-33-black-aheadset/

With my review

irishmotorist

Great stuff everybody. Thanks very much for the advice and recommendations. I'll have a go at them.

letape

irishmotorist wrote: »

Great stuff everybody. Thanks very much for the advice and recommendations. I'll have a go at them.

No worries - let us know how you get on!

ashleey

Good luck and just remember the right tightening sequence when you put it back together. Clean the inside of the headtube and then grease too.

irishmotorist

I've been doing a bit of reading so I think I will replace the headset rather than just bearings. Sheldon recommends it here under the 'indexed steering' section on this page.
http://sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html

It's a good price on that Wiggle link that Ashleey posted so I'm gonna grab one of them.

ashleey

The 1 I bought from wiggle was for my 2010 focus cayo team replica just to confirm. It came with a carbon 15mm top seal and thus I changed the number of spacers. Double check your exact model but wiggle will refund if you order wrongly after you pay the postage though. Good luck

check_six

Had a clicky grindy wobbly thing going on with my MTB last year. Talked to shop and opened the headset. There was an ominous plink plink plink as ball bearings fell out of the bottom of the headtube. The ball bearing race had disintegrated and the remaining shards were causing the clicking. Luckily it was a cheap part to replace on my MTB.