Hi all,

Got a Production Privee Shan 917 frame and have built the bike up. I got the PP Headset too and a DVO Fork.

I can’t seem to get the headset adjustment right. This is what I’ve done:

Crown race on fork (it just slid on, didn’t need to bash it down)
Lower bearing with the chamfered edge facing up (into bottom of headtube).
Fork in
Top bearing slid over fork steerer and inplace
Little black race on top of that
Headset top cap
Spacers
Stem.
I’ve tightened the star fangled nut
tightened the stem.

I keep seeming to get rock in the headset, either either holding the front brake, or if not, the steering has a bit of drag in it or feels very tight. The top cap also seems to rock back and forward a bit as I rock the bike.

Not really sure what I’ve done wrong. I’ve ordered another PP headset as when I opened this one, it fell all over the place and I wasn’t sure I had the install in the right way around.

Thanks

Top bearing slid over fork steerer and inplace
Little black race on top of that
Headset top cap

Is there a tapered collar somewhere in there?

Is the top cap clear of the top of the steerer? Headset top caps often sit deeper and need to be a couple of mm clear of the top of the steerer.
?

Have you got enough spacers? Could be the top cap tightening on the top of the steerer tube rather than loading the bearing. Try another 2.5 or 5mm spacer in the stack.

tapered collar bit missing I reckon

Crown race on fork (it just slid on, didn’t need to bash it down)

Really? Unless it was a split race (don’t start at the back) then this seems very unusual, if not a little bit suspect. You sure its all the way down?

Crown race on fork (it just slid on, didn’t need to bash it down)

I wonder if this is the tapered collar people say is missing?

If only there was a thread to find out if headsets came with crown race.

I wonder if this is the tapered collar people say is missing?

It’s tapered, so that’d be an achievement!

Regardless there’s a pic here of the bits

Headset cap
tapered race doodahhh (you can see it on top of the bearing in the pic)
Bearing
][
Headtube
[]
Bearing
Crown race

Crown race often has the same chamfer angle on it as the tapered bit that goes in the top bearing.

Thanks all,

Ok so I’ve assembled it correctly. Yes the crown race has a split in it.

I’ve noticed, last night, that the SFN hasn’t gone in directly down, so some of the tabs are not bent up properly in the steerer tube.

I’ve ordered a new one and bit the bullet on the Park SFN tool (I know many DIY methods for the SFN, but I am obviously incapable. That will set the SFN to the right depth. I have two spacers then stem and the steerer sits about 2-3mm below the top of the stem.

On the off chance, are the steerer tube spacers alu or plastic? my canyon came with a couple of plastic spacers, and no amount of faffing would get rid of the same issue you have.

Ended up fitting alu spacers and it’s been fine since.

my bet is the top cap bottoming out on the top of the steerer. either hack a few mm more off the steerer or put another spacer in as suggested up there ^
oo – hang on though – you can get it to feel too tight?
check for play with the wheel perpendicular to the frame as you nip up the top cap. pads knocking about in the caliper can mimic the feel of a loose headset if the wheel is in line with the frame.

No its defo headset as you can see the cap over the top bearing move forwards and backwards.

I’ll replace the SFN (I did order another headset too, just to be on the safe side), so might just start again.

Are you missing the collar bit like the black one in the middle above? That’s what I meant by tapered collar, I suspect this would cause it to rock back and forth.

Top bearing slid over fork steerer and inplace
Little black race on top of that
Headset top cap

I think the “Little black race” is the compression ring.

No that’s there, sat in the top bearing. Its black, you can see it in the PP headset pic above. 3rd in from the left, sat on top of the top bearing.

I do remember seeing a silver one, very similar, which I think came with the headset. But it didn’t really seem to go anywhere.

Basically the PP headset picture above is exactly whats on the bike, from left to right:
Crown Race, that way up, on the fork
Lower Bearing, that way up on the form
HeadTube
Top bearing (that way up (ie, angled part downwards)
Compression ring thing
Headset Cap

There were two very thin silver spacers which I think are only there to allow the Headset cap to turn, and a black O ring.

Fixed it.

The silver thing I remember seeing was actually a top pressed cap which formed part of the top bearing.

I installed the SFN with the correct tool, and replaced all the HS components with the new one and it’s 100% perfect.

Thanks all for the help

“Production Privee Shan 917 frame and a DVO Fork.”

We need pics!!!

hah, of course!

Spec:
Shan 917 XL
DVO Diamond Forks
XT 1 x 11 Groupset
XT 180mm rotors
NukeProof 780mm bars
Chromag Ranger V2 Stem
Wheels Manufacturing BB92
Stans Flow EX rims on Hope Pro 2 hubs
Hope Seat Clamp
DMR V12 Peddles