Carbon fork steering column, can i shorten it.

ademort

I have purchased a new carbon racing bike and while i am delighted at its appearance and on road performance, one thing gets on my tits.The fork has an unusually long steering column which sticks out several centimetres above the head tube, does anybody know if i can shorten this,at the moment there are several carbon washers between the headset and the stem, could i remove some of these.I cannot take bike back to shop as i bought it in Italy

Thanks guys you have been a big help, worked a treat. Adios

andyp

Yep, you can shorten it using a hacksaw. Measure twice and cut once though as if you do make a mistake and cut it too short you'll need to buy a new fork.

If you're a bit concerned about this then I recommend you ask your local bike shop to do it for you.

campagsarge

Whoa there tiger! I would take a look at this post before getting jiggy with a hack saw and a carbon steerer (slight assumption on my part that it is a carbon steerer):

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12543466

It may be best to spend a few extra Euro's and get it done at your LBS - a mistake could be rather expensive plus it sounds as though chopping up carbon comes with a health warning.

Monty Dog

It's a pretty straight-forward job provided you're confident with a hacksaw and sure that you'll get the length right. You don't need a proper saw guide - an old stem clamped to the steerer makes a pretty good saw guide. Use a new saw blade and wrap tape around the steerer at the cut to stop the fibres from fraying too much. Measure at least a couple of times before cutting - you can't rectify any mistakes if you cut too much off! If you're worried, your LBS will be happy to oblige, they do this stuff daily.

campagsarge

Cheers Monty Dog - I think I was going on my past experience of cutting a steerer down to size - I took one look at it and thought it could end in tears. Its a confidence thing.