need help with handle bar

I am new to cycling, first time in this forum, so if this is the wrong
subject here, please excuse me and ignore me.

I got an old road bike with dropped handle bar from a friend, it must
be over 15 years old, when I lock the front brake and rock the handle
bar, I can feel the whole front assembly rocking and actually giving
out a light cranking sound, same feeling when I brake while riding.

I thought the front post is loose, but when the bike is lifted off
ground and I pull and push on the handle bar, it does not look like it
is loose.

Is the front post loose or what could be the problem, and how should I
correct it?

Thanks for any help.

"Zonta" wrote in message
...
I am new to cycling, first time in this forum, so if this is the wrong
subject here, please excuse me and ignore me.


Rather than ignoring you, I'd suggest posting over in rec.bicycles.tech.
While there are some folks who could help you here, there are many folks who
could help you there.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Zonta" wrote ...
I am new to cycling, first time in this forum, so if this is the wrong
subject here, please excuse me and ignore me.

I got an old road bike with dropped handle bar from a friend, it must
be over 15 years old, when I lock the front brake and rock the handle
bar, I can feel the whole front assembly rocking and actually giving
out a light cranking sound, same feeling when I brake while riding.

I thought the front post is loose, but when the bike is lifted off
ground and I pull and push on the handle bar, it does not look like it
is loose.

Is the front post loose or what could be the problem, and how should I
correct it?

Thanks for any help.

Sounds like your headset is quite loose, not surprising on a 15 year old
bike. The headset is the ball bearing assembly that allows the steerer tube
(what you refer to as the front post) to turn inside the head tube of the
frame. Locking the front brake and rocking the bike back and forth is the
standard way of checking for play in the headset bearings.

As Claire said, rec.bicycles.tech is a great resource for technical
questions like this.

Someones's going to refer you to this source sooner or later if you keep
asking questions about bicycles on USENET, so here it is:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/#articles

HTH,
--
mark

Zonta wrote:

I got an old road bike with dropped handle bar from a friend, it must be over 15 years old.

That's hardly broken in!

when I lock the front brake and rock the handle bar, I can feel the whole front assembly rocking and actually giving out a light cranking sound, same feeling when I brake while riding.

That's a loose headset. Your bike has a "threaded" headset. You need to
tighten the large nut at the bottom of the handlebar stem. Actually,
you need two large headset wrenches. You don't want to overtighten or
you will damage the headset race. This is a tricky adjustment.

See:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=127

Art Harris

Thanks everybody for the advices and pointers to very useful websites,
and I have moved the question to rec.bicycles.tech and have got same
good advices as yours from there. And thank you Mark for taking the
trouble to reply to my questions twice.

Thanks again.

"rec.bicycles.MISC" (for "miscellaneous") would be defined as meaning
"anything concerning bicycles". So I would think your post qualifies.
Although Claire is right on one count, r.b.tech would probably be more
specific.

As to your "Q", yes, your headset bearings could be loose. Try the
"holding the front brake on while puishing the bike back and forth on
the ground" trick again, this time, place a finger under the lower
bearing, right where the two pieces meet.

If you feel movement there, then your headset bearings are loose (if
not, it's probably your hubs). The HS should be _just_ tight enough so
that there is no play, but the forks can still turn freely. "Wheelie"
the bike, holding the frame, not the bars, and the front wheel will
still flop over to one side or the other

- -
These comments compliments of,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

In article , Chris Z
The Wheelman wrote:

As to your "Q", yes, your headset bearings could be loose. Try the
"holding the front brake on while puishing the bike back and forth on
the ground" trick again, this time, place a finger under the lower
bearing, right where the two pieces meet.

If you feel movement there, then your headset bearings are loose (if
not, it's probably your hubs). The HS should be _just_ tight enough so
that there is no play, but the forks can still turn freely. "Wheelie"
the bike, holding the frame, not the bars, and the front wheel will
still flop over to one side or the other

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the tip. I tried it and it seems the lower bearing is not
moving too much but the movement on the upper bearing is very
noticeable, I have a little mechanica knowledge and I believe this is a
positive indication that the bearings are not tightened enough as you
have pointed out, I have never thought of trying it this way.

Thanks so much.

By the way, your site looks great!