GT RTS All Terra Mountain Bike with Girvin Vector Forks

[TheJay]

you cannot remove the gouge on the frame,just polish it and put it down to war wounds,a little history on the frame

With a bit of filler and appropriate paint/laquer etc it could be sorted.

Still need an answer regarding my previous question.

 

[jimihendrix]

There may be some confusion here (i know i am ),

When you say stem what do you mean ?, the part in the pic is the steerer tube not the stem, the stem is the bit that the handle bars go through, from the pics above it looks like all you need are a new star washer (the bit thats broke) and maybe some spacers to fit between the stem and top of the headset.

The stem must be slack to adjust the preload on the headset, when you tighten the bolt in the centre of the top cap the stem is pushed down the steerer to load up the headset bearings, if the stem is tight on the steerer and you try to tighten the top cap the star washer will burst, i suspect this is what has happened here (takes quite a force to break a star washer), the top cap should only need tightened enough to preload the bearings, should not need a lot of force to achieve this, it's very easy to damage the headset by overtightening.

Or what may have happened is that the top cap has bottomed out on the top of the steerer tube due to the steerer tube being too long, this would cause it to go tight before the bearings were preloaded, this can be cured by shortening the steerer tube or using spacers under the stem.

Those forks are correct for your frame, no need to swap the steerer or change anything (except the broken star washer)

Hope this is clear(ish)

 

[TheJay]

There may be some confusion here (i know i am ),

When you say stem what do you mean ?, the part in the pic is the steerer tube not the stem, the stem is the bit that the handle bars go through, from the pics above it looks like all you need are a new star washer (the bit thats broke) and maybe some spacers to fit between the stem and top of the headset.

The stem must be slack to adjust the preload on the headset, when you tighten the bolt in the centre of the top cap the stem is pushed down the steerer to load up the headset bearings, if the stem is tight on the steerer and you try to tighten the top cap the star washer will burst, i suspect this is what has happened here (takes quite a force to break a star washer), the top cap should only need tightened enough to preload the bearings, should not need a lot of force to achieve this, it's very easy to damage the headset by overtightening.

Those forks are correct for your frame, no need to swap the steerer or change anything (except the broken star washer)

Hope this is clear(ish)

Thanks for this explanation, I am still confused though. I half understand what you are saying, I am still confused about how to prevent the movement between the forks and the frame.

How do I fit new star washers in the correct position and where can I get them?

 

[Tallpaul]

http://www.parktool.com/repair/bikemap.asp

 

[jimihendrix]

All should be clear in that cracking link

 

[TheJay]

Which am I looking at?

Threadless Headset Service
Threaded Headset Service
Star Fangled Nut Installation
Fork Column Length and Sizing
Crown Race Removal
Headtube Reaming and Facing
Crown Race Machining
Headset Standards

 

[xizang]

One thing, to add more confusion, is it the correct headset race on the crown of the forks? If it's the one that came with the headset, it's the right one, if not, that would cause movement too.

If you're having so much trouble, why not just pop it into the LBS?
For a couple of £'s it'd be sorted. You could see where you went wrong and learn from the experience for your next project......................

 

[TheJay]

One thing, to add more confusion, is it the correct headset race on the crown of the forks? If it's the one that came with the headset, it's the right one, if not, that would cause movement too.

If you're having so much trouble, why not just pop it into the LBS?
For a couple of £'s it'd be sorted. You could see where you went wrong and learn from the experience for your next project......................

I think it is, when I went into the LBS yesterday he just told me to tighten the screw in the headset cap to resolve the looseness.

 

[jimihendrix]

Which am I looking at?

Threadless Headset Service
Threaded Headset Service
Star Fangled Nut Installation
Fork Column Length and Sizing
Crown Race Removal
Headtube Reaming and Facing
Crown Race Machining
Headset Standards

Well i'd consider what Xizang said above, but to answer your question about the link, after you get the broken star washer out look at fork column length and sizing (to get the steerer length right as this may need cut or spacers added), then look at star fangled nut instalation, threadles headset service should tell you how to adjust the preload .

 

[TheJay]

Which am I looking at?

Threadless Headset Service
Threaded Headset Service
Star Fangled Nut Installation
Fork Column Length and Sizing
Crown Race Removal
Headtube Reaming and Facing
Crown Race Machining
Headset Standards

Well i'd consider what Xizang said above, but to answer your question about the link, after you get the broken star washer out look at fork column length and sizing (to get the steerer length right as this may need cut or spacers added), then look at star fangled nut instalation, threadles headset service should tell you how to adjust the preload .

Erm, I think you are telling me how to change the height of the fork so that it is correctly set up for the bike in relation to the rear wheel? I think that it what preload and all the other things you have mentioned cover.

The good thing about the fork is that I got it from Pickle and he had it set up on a GTS.