I bought this frame second hand and only realized when I was building it up, that the fork has been cut to short to mount any normal stem to it. I think I already know the answer but would like to hear a second opinion: is it rideable like that?
And if not, is there any good „steerer tube extender“?
I‘d rather not want to buy a new carbon fork that would set me back 300$+…
by Alternative-Count-13
23 Comments
New fork time
Is it rideable? Sure. Is it risky? Absolutely.
If you brought that to my shop or I discovered this was the situation, would advise a new fork.
Definitely an unlucky situation.
Sell this fork to someone with a much smaller frame whose head tube is therefore shorter than yours.
Buy a new fork for your frame. It’s the only way.
maybe a different headset? the black thing is a spacer after all
How much headset is between the frame and the stem including the thin spacer, how big is the gap between top of steerer and top of stem, how tall is the stem itself?
There are especially low stack headsets and lower stems
What aero handlebars are those?
Don’t ride it in that condition. It’s a serious injury risk. You’d either need to remove spacers, if any, underneath or else use a slimmer stem.
Try to find a super low profile headset/stem combo. But it’s probably new fork time unfortunately…
Try to find a lower stack headset and stem
Depending on where you live, you actually can fight this. In my country for example (the Netherlands), you have a right to a ‘good product’. This obviously is not good.
Edit: this actually can be lethal.
I would absolutely encourage you to replace the fork.
If you really don’t want to (yet), this would be better than nothing:
[https://www.velobike.co.nz/collections/all-bike-accessories/products/steerer-tube-extender](https://www.velobike.co.nz/collections/all-bike-accessories/products/steerer-tube-extender)
Note: they recommend you epoxy it into place, which seems prudent.
You could get a Smalset headset, or something like it.
[https://canecreek.com/product/slamset/](https://canecreek.com/product/slamset/)
This would probably free up enough clamp space for you. Would be cheaper, and a lot easier, then trying to find a new fork.
If you want to try to salvage the ride, slam the stem.
https://slamthatstem.com
Try it without the spacer and headset bearing cover lol
There are low headsets like the Cane Creek Slamset ZS, which is basically flush with the top of the steerer tube. However judging from the pictures I’m not sure if that will be enough, maybe you will also need a low stem.
Other thing to consider: are you keeping this bike forever or selling it in a couple years? You don’t want to pass this problem to the next guy
Most stems are around 40-45mm tall at the steerer tube, if you run a [stem like this]
(https://www.syntace.com/en_GB/products/stems/mountain-bike/2993/flatforce-99?c=77) you can gain 15-20mm of clamp area which could be enough to get the steerer tube to the top of the stem. It may put the handlebars lower than you prefer.
A welding shop could fix this. It’s cheaper than buying a new one if the fork is worth some money.
Whoops…
Low stack headset
Yes, you can get a flatter headset cap/cover and a maybe a shorter stem profile but I doubt it will be enough. It looks like a new fork is in your future.
A good machinist can make a sleeve for that tube if you want to save the fork.
I did that when my steerer tube broke. It has a big aluminium cylinder running the length of the steerer.
there’s fork extender. Search “stem extender” on ali express. They’re about ~10$ each. Differen’t lengths available, shortest one is ~30mm