Hi all, I’ll try to be clear and brief.
-I have used this bike like twice this year.
-It had the orange stem with both of the pictured ‘carbon’ spacers under it.
-Problem was the the bars kept going off-center.
-With the previous owner’s setup, the LBS found that only the lower stem bolt was clamping the fork or whatever it clamps (steer tube?).
-They tried using only one spacer, but it still moved around. They said the stock stem might do better, so I got home and put it on.
– I tried slightly different variations, but the only way it seemed to work is with the bigger spacer over the stem.
-It tightened it to the 6nm suggested, but it still moved a bit. I went a bit tighter, and it seems to stay now.
First, is *that* safe? ⬆️ To go tighter than the suggested torque.
Also, my biggest worry is the center cap bolt. I used the big spacer because the cap by itself did not seem to sit correctly over the steer tube. Also, the stem would have had a bit of space over it (where you could see the steer tube). Though that might not matter if it’s tightened down properly? Anyway, the spacer has just about a third of it extending over the steerer tube. The center cap sits directly on top of it. That is what I am wondering if it is safe.
If not, what can I do to make it right?
by AEWWC
2 Comments
Is the steerer tube carbon or aluminium?
The top bolt on any stem should clamp on the steerer. It sounds to me like you are using the top cap bolt to tighten on the stem. (I might be wrong).
Get a photo of the orange stem on the bike and that would help. The steerer should be about 3 to 5mm below the top of the stem basically to allow for preloading the headset bearings.
If you overtighten the stem clamp bolts you risk damaging the stem or stripping the threads.