Stiff front fork

billyhead

Every morning I notice that the front fork on my carbon road bike is stiff when I try to move it from side to side. Could this be that the headset needs replacing and would anyone know how much roughly it would cost to fix in the lbs?

Eamonnator

You might get away with a good cleaning and regreasing of the headset bearings.
As to cost of replacing, it depends on make.
I recently replaced headsets on two of my bikes. Bearings for one bike(Planet X) cost €5.99, bearings for other bike(Canyon) cost €50.
That was cost of parts. I did the jobs myself.

Cee-Jay-Cee

At least take the headset apart, clean the bearings and the top and bottom of the steerer tube. Re-grease everything and re-assemble. If it’s still stiff/grinding then you need a new headset.

doozerie

As per the other posts, cleaning and regreasing is the first step. But be especially careful if you have a carbon steerer tube on your fork, you need to be cautious when (re-)tightening the clamp that holds the stem to that tube - tighten the bolts too much and you may damage that steerer tube and write-off your fork.

A torque wrench can help here, but you don't actually need one. If in doubt though, pay someone else to do it.