Help!

foot_loose

I wish to replace the stem on my Cannondale with a shorter one. It should be simple I know. I removed the bars and have undone the top cap to remove the old stem, having loosened the bolts and it appears that whatever the top cap tightens onto has dropped down in the steerer tube. I am a bit one handed at moment (broken collar bone). Any ideas how I can recover the nut? Should it drop down if I turn bike upside down?

Thanks

ride_whenever

Usually, sometimes you have to fish them out with a spoke

keef66

Very tricky one handed! You may need to recruit a glamorous assistant.

Also depends on what kind of nut / bung was in there to start with.

If it's an alloy steerer with a star nut in there, you might have to hammer it down out of the way and tap a new one in from the top.

If it's a carbon steerer with an expander type bung that's come apart in the steerer you should be able to shake the bits out, reassemble and reinstall it.

With the bike in a workstand and the stem removed, the fork should drop out. Keep an eye on the lower headset bearing as you tip the fork upside down and try to recover whatever has fallen down the steerer.

foot_loose

Thanks for the quick replies peeps. Much obliged. It dropped down really easily so hopefully if turned over will come out equally easily. As you say, I think I may need a hand from a friend!

Monty Dog

Its probably the expander wedge, leaving the top parts in place. If you hoik-out the top piece, the bung should simply drop-out and you can reassemble.

foot_loose

Managed to sort this out today with a helping hand from my son. Ended up removing the forks and eventually managed to knock the wedge out before re-assembling.