Cut tires and Stem stack height

Eyon

Hi everyone,

Two questions here.

First, tire cuts. Is this safe to ride? I assume yes as ive done about 100 miles on it right now. Its not all the way through, tire is a Michelin Krylion Carbon.



Second question. My bike has a Cane Creek integrated headset, quite standard, and also has that flared section on it to make the frame to stem bit look a little neater. Is this integral to the seal of the headset? I can loose 20mm on the front height of my bike by replacing it with a small spacer (and a hell of a lot of them above) but of course if it comprimises the headsets job then its not worth that 20mm.

Do I even need to run the bottom spacer?

With this "fairing" removed I can get a near flat back on the clip-ons as my first TT is coming up soon. Had a quick test ride tonight and it doesnt feel any different, just dont want water ingress.




Yes I know the spacers are ugly, but im not going to cut it for testings sake!

Thanks
Ian

rake

the tyre will puncture more easily stuff will get caught in there. looks like skid damage to me.

ADIHEAD

I would never ride with a front tyre looking like that :shock: If you're really keen to keep it then glue it up and put it on the rear. But my advice would be to chuck it I'm afraid.

Eyon

skid? Not with the stock rear brake/pads that the bike came with, they dont have the strength to lock the back up!

It is on the rear wheel. Front has the odd 1mm cut but nothing like this.

rake

Eyon wrote:

skid? Not with the stock rear brake/pads that the bike came with, they dont have the strength to lock the back up!

It is on the rear wheel. Front has the odd 1mm cut but nothing like this.

im going on the length of the cut. you get a long slash like that with wheel slippage. did you ride over a kitchen knife. gravel can cause skiding without noticing. the rest of it looks nick free.

Eyon

I had a big off on road grit 2 months back, might have been the issue.

However it has happened it has happened. People mention gluing but my experience with superglue and rubber is it makes the edges very crusty and assumingly gripless, or is it a known and reliable method to keep tires running?

rake

you need a new tyre fella.

father_jack

Would be interested if you hit that stem.

deadlegs

@Eyon - Did you find out about your spacers? I am considering the same thing with my headset - want to lose the massive conical spacer.

I have googled & trawled the forums for ages but can't find any advice about exposing the bearings. Can you get a small bearing cover then just stick the stem on top?

P.S. That tyre is asking for trouble. I tried riding on a tyre with a much smaller slash & had 2 punctures on the way home. Had to run up a tab in the pub whilst waiting for the Mrs :shock:

*Sorry for hijacking post but your picture & explanation describes my issue perfectly.

k-dog

Could you not put the conical spacer back in and then flip your stem - looks like it would give you about the same drop.