Many years ago after having become frustrated with the relative size variation in headset wrenches (as Garth points out), I bought a 1.25" combo wrench to tighten the top nut. The open end measures 31.99mm when calipered, which fits nice and snug on the 32mm headset nuts. This is a BIG wrench, measuring 16" long, so it's way overkill for this purpose. But it works well. Coupled with your stein-type wrench you should be able to tighten everything up securely without damage, even on aluminum.
I agree, though, that the eBay price is way out. You could buy 2 or 3 of these combo wrenches for that price. When adjusting/tightening headset nuts I've found the following tips useful: - Find a way to support the bike, either by having someone hold it or by putting the rear wheel into something like a Rakk storage stand, then pinch the fork and front wheel between your knees to keep the steering tube from turning as you tighten. - Thoroughly clean the threads on the steering tube and the top nut (automotive brake parts cleaner works best) and apply blue LocTite. - If spacers are used between the adjustable nut and the top nut, make sure that the very last item on the steering tube is the keyed washer. This will keep the movement of the steering tube from loosening the top nut. On Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 10:20:46 AM UTC-5, Patrick Moore wrote: > > I ought to get one of these; I've used the old Park hex style for decades, > with no more damage than burring the edges of a few aluminum locknuts, but > this Stein type will be better > > Only, does one have to pay $60 at Missing Link Tools (the sole source > Google showed me) to get one? The only Stein wrench I found is on eBay for > $86. > > I agree with Hugh, you just don't have to adjust decent headsets (and just > about any aftermarket headset sold in the US is decent, IME) once you get > them right. Heck, even the OEM ones on generic commodity bikes stay put, as > far as my experience goes. > > That said, perhaps I should saven my money, but if I can find a Stein type > for $40 or less, I'll bite. > > Now some of the cheap Indian-made headsets I worked on came loose all the > time, but perhaps taht was because I used a "monkey wrench" to "adjust" > them. > > So, sources? > > Thanks. > > PS: What do you (all) use to hold the cup in place while you tighten the > locknut? Me, a large adjustable wrench which hasn't slipped yet. > > > On Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 9:04 AM, Grant Petersen <gran...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> The "secret" to properly snugging a threaded headset is to use two >> wrenches (in the case of a non-Rinko style). The spanner kind goes on the >> cup flats, and it's really helpful to use the Stein-type (now also made by >> Park) that's chunky and grabs around about 230 degrees and cannot slip.... >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
