# Headset cap torque



## ToiletSiphon (May 25, 2018)

So I've always been torquing this to the point of "just tight enough to remove play while keeping the steering smooth". But on a MTB group, someone asked at what torque they should screw this bolt and soooo many people said 5 or 6nm, which is wayyyyy tighter than what I describe. Am I nut or are they? 

Envoyé de mon SM-A530W en utilisant Tapatalk


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## keen (Jan 13, 2004)

Zero preload on the bearings. I use a short allen wrench and one finger it until it stops. I had a friend that would tighten while twisting a headset spacer until it stopped rotating. A torque wrench isn't needed.


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## arnea (Feb 21, 2010)

Some time ago I looked at different headset manuals and 1.5Nm was recommended torque for cap screw. Same for Hollowtech II crank cap.


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## mfa81 (Apr 1, 2011)

it’s usually between 1.5 and 2 depending on the brand, but I agree as tight as needed to remove play which is usually not much


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

ToiletSiphon said:


> So I've always been torquing this to the point of "just tight enough to remove play while keeping the steering smooth". But on a MTB group, someone asked at what torque they should screw this bolt and soooo many people said 5 or 6nm, which is wayyyyy tighter than what I describe. Am I nut or are they?
> 
> Envoyé de mon SM-A530W en utilisant Tapatalk


Maybe some people were quoting torque for stem clamp bolts and faceplate bolts. That's the bare minimum I use there (though some parts say up to 7Nm there). I always use the "just enough" method on the preload bolt, too. I get why mfr's list 1.5-2Nm or so in the manual, but in all practicality, the "just tight enough" method covers the bases well enough.


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## Yeah right (Jun 1, 2019)

I think it really depends on the headset, among other things. There are some with a split ring wedge that is supposed to prevent any side to side play on the upper bearing cover by minimizing any gap between the inside diameter of that cover and the steerer tube. But once that wedge gets driven in place, it's hard to loosen it.

Sometimes I've needed to torque down on the top cap bolt with much more than 5NM to just to get the upper bearing cover to move at all, especially after I had ridden it a bit loose. Maybe I should grease that wedge so it slides against both the upper bearing cover and the steerer tube...

ETA: A wedge like this:








(image shamelessly borrowed from BikeRadar.com) also referred to as a compression ring, when the upper bearing cover pushes onto it, the chamfer on the bearing presses it harder into the steerer. I believe there are versions where it's above the upper bearing cover instead of the bearing, but I guess that style was more commonly used for loose or caged ball bearings.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Yeah said:


> Sometimes I've needed to torque down on the top cap bolt with much more than 5NM to just to get the upper bearing cover to move at all, especially after I had ridden it a bit loose. Maybe I should grease that wedge so it slides against both the upper bearing cover and the steerer tube...


Yes, for sure you should pull out the compression ring and clean/regrease it if it's not moving easily. Generally you can't torque much more than about 6-7nm or so against the star-fangled nut before it just slips up.

I assembled a bike today that had 4nm marked on the top nut. I think they do that to cover their asses, better a little too tight than the other way around from their (legal) perspective.


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