new stem - steerer seems short

pedlad
pedlad Posts: 127
edited March 2008 in Workshop
Hi

I'm fitting a new lighter stem to replace the heavy adjustable one the bike came with and was surprised when I removed the old one to find that te steerer is cut shorter than needed to be flush to the top of the stem.

Is this right or do I need to remove a spacer to bring it up flush to the top of the new stem to give max strength?

Many thanks

Comments

  • gundersen
    gundersen Posts: 586
    2mm under is ok
    more than that - remove a spacer
  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    It should be cut 3mm shorter than the top of the stem, otherwise the top cap will sit on the steerer and you will not be able to preload the bearings.
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,473
    If your spacers are all 1 cm you might find that the new stem is too low if you remove one spacer and too high if you don't. This usually seems to be the case with different stems as the difference in stack height between them is usually only a few mm. So you might need to get a 5mm or a 2.5mm spacer.

    As Smokin Joe says, just make sure that however you do it, the steerer is approx. 3mm shorter than the top of the stem at the end of the day.