How to adjust a bike headset with full carbon fork - PART 3. Bicycle headset adjustment. 

This video was a huge help to fix the friction/play on my bike. Could not find any proper video to fix it, until a came across this one. Thank you very much and best wishes for 2022.

This video is really rare for this kind of compression plug! Thank you!

Still a huge help years later. I kept messing with the 4mm stem bolts. The 5mm headset bolt. Didn’t know there was a 6mm to draw in the tightness. Thanks! 👍👍👍

Finally a useful video. All the others look at threaded ones. I undid the expander after taking the top cap off and it slipped into the steering tube. Some work getting it back out. Lessons to be learned here.

You’re such a life saver bro !! Thanks for the upload and the clear explanation. Keep up the good work!

Great tutorial, I struggled at my cannondale headset a while ago, and your video did solve my issue.

Thank you!!! I watched many videos on this subject but it wasn't until I watched yours that I realized what was going on with my bike!!

Thanks so much dude, i've been trying doing this for 40 minutes until I searched on RU-vid. Thanks so much!

Very useful video. Probably the only video get headset right on the carbon folk structure. I followed it and fixed my headset finally.

This was very helpful to understand what was going on inside my stem. I wanted to flip my stem as my new aero bars placed me in higher position than old but I didn’t know what was going on with stem. Unfortunately however, when I took off stem I noticed my carbon steerer tube appears deformed! It looked like it pushed inside the stem and has almost like a point to it. Kind of like when you pinch a coffee cup to have a nice pour out of it. Maybe it was over tightened or maybe this is why other manufactures recommend a 5 mm spacer above the stem

This really helped me out, was changing my stem but could not figure out how to get it back together without too mich play in the bearings...now it finally works 👍🏻

You helped me a lot my friend, cheers from Brazil!

thanks that sold my cannondale headset issues! great video

you helped me!!!!! loving this video. so many thanks!

Thank you so much you've just saved me a trip to a bike shop. Really helpful video

Thank you for this. I was trying to work out how to adjust mine correctly.

Thanks for the video. Nicely done.

Very good, detailed description of the system. Thanks

I just got that FSA expander days ago and don't know how to install it. Yeah boy! Now I know. Many thanks to you.

What a great video - solved all my issues

Thank you for the video, i've just bought my first carbon bike and couldn't work out how to get rid of the play in the head set.

Thanks for the video. Very well explained 👍🏻

thanks man, you have just saved my life : ) Greetings from Hungary :)

Awesome video, very informative. Just bought a 2nd hand bike which had the top cap's thread was all fucked up. Spent 30 minutes tightening the inner expander, but it was obviously not tightening the fork so I kept having play.

Nice Video. Thanks for that!

Thanks for posting this video!

Thank you! This is so helpful! I removed the top cap and looseded the expander and the expander fell down to the bottom of the fork. This was incredibly helpful to see how to reset the expander to the right position so that the expander and top cap are aligned with stem bolts.

Very well made video!!! Thank you!

OMG thank you so much. My Supersix has had a loose headset forever. I'm even gonna adjust my P2 that has also had a loose headset forever, The last time I tried to adjust my headset I removed the top cap then loosened the expander and it fell all the way down my headset. The solution to that is to try to loosen the expander as much as possible then turn the bike upside down and bump and jiggle it until the expander falls out. Then NEVER let the expander and top cap come apart. I especially appreciated the instruction on how to space the two pieces so the stem bolts are supported by more than a hollow carbon steerer tube.

Thank you! Solved the wobble on my fork!

Excellent vid, thank you!

Very useful, thank you very much!

Thank you for the break down

Great video even after 7 years! the bottom part fell down the stem and I was struggling to figure it all out.

Thanks, this was really useful - I'd been messing with mine and unable to get it right. Problem has now been solved! Cheers!

Thanks. Very useful video!

You're a life saver!

Fantastic video - the only place i've seen the correct way to do this on a Cannondale - in fact iv'e discovered that my bike was built up incorrectly by the bike shop.

Thanks for the video, I wanted to raise my handlebars but could never get the steering tube tight afterwards, made adjustments according to what you said with the spacers and expansion nut and seems good now….

Thanks for the video, very helpful. Got rid of the slack in my headset.

No spacers above the stem, says that in cannondale handbook, J Kessler is spot on.

Thank you for a useful and informative video! If you adjust height of top cap vs. expander, how do you ensure water won’t leak inside?

very useful video!!! To make sure I don´t leave it too tide, I use a ritchey torque key...

this is so so helpful! thankyou very much

Brilliant, thank you👍🚲

Thank you, very useful

Great video, wish I had seen this earlier My superx with the same bung came with 8mm above the steerer. I tried with 3mm but it had play, so went back to 8mm and made it tighter, works fine I managed to strip the top cap / 6mm hole by trying to release it first, instead of after releasing the internal 5mm and stem, so the order is important. I bought the new Cannondale bung which slightly different and supposed to be better, the old one like this is no longer available The torque settings are confusing on the bung , I have read some low torque and some high settings, in the end I used high torque on the inside to balance the torque from the stem on the outside, seems fine On the plus side, I have found the carbon fibre to be very strong on these bikes - the official torque setting printed on the seatpost clamp was very high, but I just followed it and the seatpost bolt snapped, luckily with no damage to the frame or post. So we need to use some common sense and not always follow the instructions....

Hey mate was wondering if you could make a detailed video on how to switch from open bearings to cartridge bearings in mtb headsets?

Thank you so much for the video. One problem is that when I place the extender in the fork and try to tighten the bolt, it constantly drops. If I don’t tighten the extender and tighten the top cap, the top cap just comes up the bolt and doesn’t tighten anything. What am I missing? Btw, cannondale synapse,

Thank you!!

Very useful as I have a Cannondale. I suppose this expander is Cannondale specific as I have not seen it on my other bikes?

Very good thanks

Can I use an expander with an aluminium steerer tube, or just with carbon ones?

I couldnt get it right (always too much play) until I watched and rewatched and then found out the hex key at 6'50" ... when tighten with this the play was all gone, thank you SickBiker greets from Belgium

If my mechanic put to carbon steerer tube a anchor for alloy tube, what should me do? Thank you!

Thanks for the video! when replacing the stem, it looks like i don't need to remove the whole compression plug assembly - i just need to remove the top cap?

Life saver!

I removed my fork from the frame to inspect it, but the expander and a ring came off the threadless headset falling into the bottom of my fork. I had hoped to see more of the expander and headset pieces in your video in order to figure out how they all go back together since I also have a cannondale CF bike. Can you show how to disassemble and reassemble just the headset?

can I use the expander on alloy fork? star nut is not available on the shops near me.

Quick question how to remove this kind of expander? I’d like to remove mine and replace with longer one. Thanks

Hi SickBiker. The expander bung on my Specialized Diverge works in a completely different way to the Cannondale one you demonstrate. It can't be adjusted for the depth at which is operates but is quite long (48mm). There is a bolt-within-a-bolt mechanism which means you HAVE to use a torque wrench to do these bolts up as you don't want to undo the expander bolt if you only want to remove the top-cap. Not as complicated as it sounds but my Specialized dealer didn't get it right! They had the torque settings the wrong way 'round so when I tried to remove the top-cap bolt the expander bolt it screws into came out with it. Fortunately the wedge didn't drop into the steerer tube.

Hello I know it was some time since you've posted this video. Hoping you still reply to comments. Fantastic video! Very precise! The thing bothering me is what torque should be used to tight stem bolts on carbon fork? Hopefully to hear from you soon. Appreciated!

Are these spacers carbon fiber or aluminum? I have a CF Canyon and need a couple of spacers and want to know which ro buy. Thank you for all your help.

carbon steerer tubes are more complex than alloy tubes. Something that worked so great (simple) like alloy tubes is now overly complicated.

Hi, i have a cannondale slice 5, i did as you said and did not over torque anything, after setting it all in and lightly torquing it down, when i got on the bike and gave it a ride i heard a few loud clicks come from the fork tube, but just the few and after it did that i didn't hear it anymore as if it was just settling in, is this ok ? or should i be worried that i broke something ?

Usually how much is the tensile torque (N/m) setting for the headset expander compression plug (by using torque wrench) if i installed in an aluminum fork tube? Thanks..

Has anybody a rough value for the tork? I have the feeling I had to tighten up really hard to have no play. The bottom spacer can still be turned around though, so I am not sure if it's tight enough.

fork doesnt need tool to knock in?

awesome :D

if you have a supersix you must watch this useful video...thanks...

Cannondale instructs NOT to use any spacer above the stem with that kind of expander (KP017) and to cut the steerer 3 mm short (below the stem top). I find this a bit confusing as FSA instructs to have 2 mm of steerer and a spacer above the stem with their very similar expander. What if I need to change different stem with different height etc. Would be nice to hear your take on this and maybe the word from Cannondale?

Should have watched this before i started to install my expander. Would have saved me play in headset for 2 rides.

Cannondale say no spacers above the stem. The top cap strengthens the steerer at the top bolt stem. The plug strengthens the area at the bottom of the stem. Prevents crushing. Putting the spacers above the stem will not protect the lower stem bolt area of the steerer tube! Look up the instructions for Cannondale KP17.

doesn't the Cannondale manual say that you must not use any spacers above the stem when using carbon steerers, at the risk of breaking? Are you using it like that?

Uncut stem is always asking for trouble, also this ex-pander should be much longer covering stem depth all along, not just part of it, forced of stem and handle bar will break carbon.

Can I use the expander on alloy steerer tube ?

umm the expander got stuck inside my headset cap HELp

Your advice is Good but not quite right. I followed it for 4 years without a problem, but on checking with Cannondale they require zero spacers on top of the stem, which lines up the metal part of the bung with the lower stem bolts, to Give proper support. If you want the stem low, you need to cut the fork steerer of use a negative Rise stem

0:49 you said aluminium more durable than carbon fiber is not true.

Czy masz gdzies filmik o tym po polsku ? ;))

Don’t cut it😢.

Why does it have to be so dang complicated

I am sure you are not supposed to have spacers ABOVE THE STEM

Thank you...that was very helpful. :)