cutting up a fork
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Triguy98 posted 38 weeks ago.
Is the steerer carbon, too, or just the legs? Alum steerers are a piece of cake to cut. You can either use a pipe cutter or the more traditional miter box and hack saw. Carbon is a little more complex, and I would personally take it to a solid LBS to have them cut it. In theory, you wrap the steerer in electric tape immediately below where you are making your cut, and only cut through one half before changing sides, to prevent splintering. Never done it myself, and dont plan to!
In either case, you need to wait for the stem to show up. Different stems have different heights at the clamp. Just because Brand Y's 120 stem is x cms high at the clamp doesnt mean Brand Z's will be, too. You dont wanna goof that up.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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diva_mom posted 38 weeks ago.
steerer is carbon too. and now I'm scared.
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left
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Triguy98 posted 38 weeks ago.
Most shops will only charge like $20 for a steerer cut and headset install. Not a bad deal. Heatset presses and miter boxes cost more than that.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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ryanweeg posted 38 weeks ago.
My opinion on this is relative to where I live I suppose, but I would very reluctantly take my bikes for any sort of service to any local bike shop in the Orange County area. I prefer to do most everything myself and haven't had any problems to date. I am a general contractor so I do have a background with many tools and such, but I have cut both metal and carbon steerer tubes with my standard dremel tool (for carbon) or my 4" makita grinder (for metal). Both turned out perfect. All you need is a steady hand and the rpms cranked up on the dremel. The dremel operates at a max 10,000 rpm, and this is what is needed to prevent splintering and gives you that nice clean cut. And as posted earlier, when cutting the carbon steerer, it helps to use electric tape on the carbon tubes, although I have found it not to be necessary at the faster tool speeds.
And definitely wait till the new stem arrives before cutting, and I would also suggest experimenting with heights before cutting. I am very careful not to rush into it, I lowered the height on my carbon steerer again after the first cut. And hopefully this wont happen, but usually you can send your fork back to the manufacturer to install a new steerer tube should something crazy happen or you cut it too short, for a cost $$$ though I'm sure...
"If one can stick to the training throughout many long years, that willpower is no longer a problem. It's Raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's beside the point. It's simply just that I have to."
-Emil Zatopek
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jerallen posted 38 weeks ago.
I used a simple hacksaw with a diamond blade and it was a peice of cake. Dito on the electric tape and leave extra room above the stem and just use some spacers, in case you want to lower or raise your bars.
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saydee1800 posted 38 weeks ago.
I Bought Easton E70 with a carbon stear tube. I manual said that I had to leave 10mm for on top for the neck. So when cutting make sure your brand is or is not saying this. Be aware that you will need to leave 10mm on top of the neck
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ChunkyB posted 38 weeks ago.
jerallen wrote:
leave extra room above the stem and just use some spacers, in case you want to lower or raise your bars.
+1. You can always cut more off later if you want, but you can't add more on. Losers might make fun of you for having extra steerer tube sticking out the top of your stem, but they're losers so you shouldn't care what they think anyways.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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diva_mom posted 38 weeks ago.
thanks to all of y'all.
i can't help it, it's the engineer in me that makes me do all this stuff myself. and if the bike breaks down i can only blame myself. and if it works, i get a big, fat smile.
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left
I lucked into a very lovely carbon aero fork for the bike I'm building. It's the first bike I've built and I want to know - before I cut the steerer tube on this piece of art - what the pitfalls are of sizing it to the stem (that I don't yet have). What have you done right and wrong?
I'm planning on trying to find a fork to practice on :) just in case.
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left