Bad vibrations

So I bought a shitty cheap 'Stronglight' headset.

I have a feeling i'm paying for it now though. Annoying really as its the only part on the bike i scrimped on.

Anyway.. here's the issue. Its quite hard to describe without actually feeling it for yourself unfortunately. I can feel a definate 'looseness' somewhere on the bike. I'm pretty sure its around the headset. Its quite hard to tell though, its pretty damn subtle. When i go over rougher ground theres a detectable 'knocking' you can feel through the bars too.

If i lift the rear or front wheel a couple inches and then drop it back theres a tonne of vibration being kicked off from someplace, presumably implying theres a not-so-good fit somewhere on the bike.

I'll prob just take it into a shop and get some other hands/eyes on it but thought I'd ask about here first. Just in case the headset turned out to be a wild goose and there's something more obvious I just dont know about coz i'm all newb n shit.

check your front hub just to be sure, too

to set the headset correctly put your front wheel against a wall and push it backwards and forwards. look for movement at the headset. if there is any movement tighten a little bit then do it again.

could also be your front hub or your brakes.

Sounds like a headset / wheel bearing thing as mentioned above.
Sheldon Brown loves this kind of bikeyness.

Is there enough clearance twixt top of steerer and top of stem?

If not yer star fangled nut won't be doing it's job.

Most stems need about 3mm clearance.

Add spacers to sort.

I suspect this is a threaded headset

are your bearing cups the right dimensions you can get slightly differently sized cups and maybe they are squeezing the bearings or not sitting correctly ?

sounds like your headset is just a little loose, or in need of some new grease. Next thing to check would be the hub bearings, then the brake, then if the wheel has a buckle/bulge.

try jumping up and down to see if the knocking sound is coming from you rather than the bike?

If so place your head against wall and rock backwards and forwards and then adjust tightness of your collar till the problem disappears.

i love my stronglight headset, sealed bearings and its smoooooth, and all for less than a score of my shiniest pound coins!
it does sound like it needs a little tightening,

really good advise. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. Always prefer to fix this stuff myself than rely on the lbs so I'm well chuffed i got all these possible leads.

Going to have a good headset adjusting session tomorrow night as soon as i get home. The headset was the one part I didnt install myself so I'm new to all that.

Thanks again.

YouTube - The beach boys -good vibrations

really good advise. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. Always prefer to fix this stuff myself than rely on the lbs so I'm well chuffed i got all these possible leads.

Going to have a good headset adjusting session tomorrow night as soon as i get home. The headset was the one part I didnt install myself so I'm new to all that.

Thanks again.

If all else fails, give it a squirt of "Harden The Fuck Up™" and leave for a few days so it hardens the fuck up.

in case anyone cares, or happens to run a search for a similar issue. I took the spanners to my headset last night and wahey ! that fixed it :D pesky little fucker just needed a couple degrees and its now tighter than a scot in spandex.

I suspect this is a threaded headset

i suspect this is a headset thread