I've cut my carbon fork. But when I assembled the bike it turns out that my headset is a little loose. Am I correct that I should cut the carbon fork a little bit more ? When I put the expander in (without top cap), its level is the same as the stem (see picture)
by brekol
5 Comments
Yes, the top part needs to be a few mm lower than the stem – and in this case the metal part that sits on the top needs to be at that position – so looks like you either need to take 2 or 3mm off the steerer, or add a thin spacer under it.
Generally the tube should not be below the top bolt of the stem, and its perfectly safe to just run a spacer on top of the stem aswell if you don’t want to cut it any shorter. I seem to see some carbon layers delaminating inside the stem that’s from cutting it wit a normal blade and not one meant for carbon. I would strongly recommend using a carbon saw blade in the future it works better and cuts cleaner.
In the old days, you can put an additional stem spacer above all that which sticks out like a chimney to solve your issue here.
But now a days with all the fancy shapes, you are gonna have to cut a little more of the steerer. Send to a shop it’s not too hard for them to do and accurately
I would adjust the headset preload with a spacer on top, tighten the stem bolts, take off the spacer, and, if there is enough space, put the top cap on. The stem keeps the preload set and I haven’t had any problems doing it like that.
If you have it, add a small ~2 mm spacer. That will not significantly affect your fit.