do I need to cut fork tube???

xz

OK, so I opened my PLanetX bike and started putting the fork on the frame, comes with an integrated headset, 35mm stack plus stem and I still have 40 mm of fork tube showing above the stem, is this normal, or have I effed up somewhere?

Chips Lovell

Do you mean you have 35mm of spacers below the stem? If that's the case, then yes, you've got to cut the steerer.

kenmc

sounds like you need to cut it down. there should be nothing above the top of the stem - in fact the top of the stem should be about 2-3mm above the top of the steerer tube. Make sure your star nut is sufficiently far down in the tube if you're going to cut it off.

NeilMcEoigheann

don't do nothing till you is sure, and when cutting cut a little and a little bit more, if you cut too much off at once you are ****ed

blorg

You can put spacers on top of stem if you like; not necessarily a bad idea to put off cutting it until you are happy with the stem height, or at least leave 10-20mm more than you need and cut twice. Is it a carbon steerer? You need to be careful cutting them to not fray the material.

This is cut now but I had it like this for a while:

ba

is your steerer tube carbon or aluminium?? just take care if its carbon, put some masking tape round the cutting line to prevent shards of carbon coming off. insures a clean edge when done.

penexpers

Yes take care if it's carbon. Think you need to get a hacksaw with a certain tpi if It is carbon.

If it's alu then any hacksaw should do the trick. I put mine in a vice to help get a straight cut. You can get a guide tool from park tool but it's expensive for once off job.

Oh yeah, measure, measure and measure again and then cut.

xz

Right, I'm happy with the height, it's all together, but there is still the slightest play (wobble) in the steerer tube, do I need to take the barest bit more off?

blorg

xz wrote: »

Right, I'm happy with the height, it's all together, but there is still the slightest play (wobble) in the steerer tube, do I need to take the barest bit more off?

Have you tightened the headset? You have enough spacers to completely cover the steerer, with the top cap tightened down on top of them/the stem?

Apologies if you know this already:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRFqU07u8DE

xz

Doh!! Thanks Blorg, silly me had tightened the stem bolts first, so no compression when I tightened the headset bolt. All fine now. Trying to find camera software so I can post a pic of the bike so far, started at 9 this evening, and just need to do all the cabling and front mech.

xz

Here she is, not quite the bike that Quiggs Snr, bought, but, hey, I'm not into TT's , the pics a bit blurry

blorg

Looks good, you are nearly there!

xz

still getting slight wobble in headset. It's OK when I tighten down the star nut, but once I tighten the stem bolts, I get slight motion when I apply front brake and give it some forward/backward movement. It appears to loosen up once some weight has been applied to the bike. There is definite wobble there.

I'm perplexed to say the least.

xz

2 more mm off the steerer tube at 01:30 this morning and WOOHOO. Nicely tightened headset with NO more wobble............... Now if the snow goes away I can go for a test spin

blorg

xz wrote: »

still getting slight wobble in headset. It's OK when I tighten down the star nut, but once I tighten the stem bolts, I get slight motion when I apply front brake and give it some forward/backward movement. It appears to loosen up once some weight has been applied to the bike. There is definite wobble there.

I'm perplexed to say the least.

I have started getting that on my Litespeed- there is no wobble when the stem bolts are loose, the wobble only appears when they are tightened. Also perplexed.

xz

I think my problem lay in the fact that the steerer tube was slightly too high when the stem was in place,in that the star head was not recessed enough when stem applied so the cap didnt fit as snug as it should, it was slightly, ever so slightly raised,in that there was no real room for the compression when cap was tightened. you might try 1-2 mm off the steerer tube too.