Headset woes.

[jim haseltine]

I wonder if the top nut and race have been backed against each other with such force that the spacer has acted like a crush washer in a hydraulic union. Maybe teaching grandmothers to suck eggs here but my technique for tight headsets is to get the spanners on with the free end of the top spanner an inch or so to the left of the end of the lower spanner then squeeze the two ends together like I'm using a pair of pliers, usually either the top nut or the race will move enough to free things up. Helps to put a shim of some sort like a headset spacer between the spanners at the headset end to try to stop them sliding off the flats.

 

[Sir Neil d'Menture]

I'm not 100% happy with the spacer. To my untutored eye it seems to have a smaller overall diameter than I would expect.
I have been running Plusgas into the space it occupies because I guessed it would do no harm. It didn't do much good either!

I hate the thought of cutting it off. Not just for the waste but also because it may show up problems on the steerer tube itself. Then I have a major problem.

 

[gtturbo]

Have you tried any heat ?. Maybe a kettle load of boiling water just to get a bit of expansion going. Works with super tight pedals, sometimes....

 

[Sir Neil d'Menture]

I have considered heat. I was thinking of a heat gun after heavily wrapping the paintwork. Brown trouser job methinks

 

[jim haseltine]

The standard spacer for a Record headset of that era is narrow in diameter and very thin. I've probably still got one somewhere because rather than trim the steerer on my Colnago I fitted two of the thick spacers from 1970s/80s Super Record headsets - also something of an hommage to Giovanni Battaglin whose riding I admired in my younger years, he often rode with multiple spacers, especially on mountain stages.

 

[mdvineng]

if you haven't done it already, remove the stem just incase it is affecting the steerer diameter.

 

[Sir Neil d'Menture]

if you haven't done it already, remove the stem just incase it is affecting the steerer diameter.

Yes indeed. That was the first thing to do.
Also allowed me to squirt Plusgas on the threads.
It is only back in situ as a temporary measure.

 

[pigman]

I suspect that the spacer isn't thick enough so the top nut has been screwed down tight against the top of the steerer. I'd take the stem out and have a look. Have you just been attempting to undo the top nut or have you tried tightening the top race a fraction to release pressure on the top nut? - I know it's not good practice as you can damage the races but it might help.

Did you mean to say "tightening the BOTTOM race a fraction", IE, screwing it down a fraction?

 

[pigman]

I wonder if the top nut and race have been backed against each other with such force that the spacer has acted like a crush washer in a hydraulic union. Maybe teaching grandmothers to suck eggs here but my technique for tight headsets is to get the spanners on with the free end of the top spanner an inch or so to the left of the end of the lower spanner then squeeze the two ends together like I'm using a pair of pliers, usually either the top nut or the race will move enough to free things up. Helps to put a shim of some sort like a headset spacer between the spanners at the headset end to try to stop them sliding off the flats.

This is what I'd suggest.

Better still if you can clamp the top nut in a vice.

I honestly don't think you will need to (or should) saw anything. It's just an unthreading job. Once you separate the locknut and race, the hard work is over

 

[Midlife]

Wheel out, top nut in a vice with the frame upside down and a thick length of wood down into the fork crown and turn the wood. Use the crown to lever against not the fork blades.