madpogue 

So I have a 2001 Specialized Hard Rock, that came with an old RockShox Judy threadless fork. Turns out the fork had a recall, so I contacted SRAM, and with an LBS as intermediary, got a brand new RockShox 30TK. Of course, they sent me one with an uncut steerer tube. My original plan was to keep it uncut and put the bike up on CL, and then cut it to the buyer's spec.But I'm planning to put it up in the corral at the bike swap coming up this Saturday here in Madison ( https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ing-fools.html ). So keeping it uncut wouldn't work; if the buyer is from out of town, they'll want to cash-and-carry it. Sooo.... looking for opinions about where to cut it. Frame is 17" seat tube, 21" sloping top tube. Here's a shot of the front end, with the stem and a couple spacers in place:

Hope the pic shows enough "context". I have a bunch more spacers available, but I'm wondering what's "reasonable". I am gonna have some other stems (other rises/lengths) in the truck, in case someone wants a different fit. And I have two seat post options, one of which is about 300mm. So even though it's a small frame, it's got a wide sizing range. That's why I'm in a quandary about the steerer length.

To boot, I'm mostly C&V person, so I have little experience with threadless. With the bit of research I've done, there seems to be a wide range of ideas, so that hasn't helped me any.

Thoughts?

02Giant 

Cut it to the length of the original.

freeranger

On my mtn bike, I actually left the steerer tube a little above the stem, then used a thick spacer above the stem, with the steerer being maybe 3mm below the washer, then put the top cap on. May not be the recommended method, but I did this so if I later decided to add spacers under the stem, to raise handlebar height, I could just put that spacer below the stem to raise it. If I wanted the steerer itself below the top of the stem, I could always have cut it later, but if you cut too short, there's no adding material back on! Once you get the correct "tightness" of the top cap, once the stem is tightened, it holds the steerer in place, so I didn't see a problem having a spacer or two above it, so long as the steerer tube is recessed a bit into the spacer so you can get adjustment done correctly. Don't want the steerer too much above the stem, if you happen to crash and go into the bar, don't want to impale yourself. Since you're putting the bike up for sale, don't know if you'd want to go this way or not. Maybe just cut to orig length, or just a little more?

madpogue 

Well, the original is long gone, and (D'OH!) I didn't take note of its length. But IIRC, it only had the spacers pictured, so to my mind, that was pretty short. But since it came with such a long seat post, I'm thinking the bike should be kept adjustable for some range of rider height. I'm familiar with setting the top cap, and options of having spacers above/below the stem. And I have extra star nuts, and the Park cutting guide tool. I'm just wondering what's a "sane" amount of spacer space to have, not to limit the sale-ability of the bike, but not to be too excessive.

I'm leaning toward keeping it kinda long, maybe cut off a little more than half of what's exposed in the pic above. Then I can put a note in the listing saying if the buyer is local, I can re-cut the stem.

shoota 

I'd flip the stem over, move it up the steerer tube about 3-4cm, and then cut it. That will give the buyer the most amount of flexibility to fit the bike to themselves down the road.

2old

It can always be shortened, but... As others have stated, cut it too long (at least two inches). This might help you sell it to an individual who might otherwise be too big for it.

dedhed

I'd leave it and let them cutit to the length they might want. Or bring a hacksaw, file and cutting guide and cut as needed on the spot, then sell the hacksaw.

madpogue 

I like the flip idea. Leaves it long enough to provide the option to cut later, but also provides the visual clue to flexibility without looking weird.

Confession - this idea actually did cross my mind. OTOH, I'm also going to be shopping at the swap (originally planned to have a table, but scrubbed that), so I don't want this one sale to eat up a lot of time. And I don't want to exclude the potential "cash and carry" buyer who wouldn't want to wait long enough for me to set up the cutting operation. Not to mention, such an operation might prompt the Brazen Dropouts folks to kindly request that I not come back in future....

madpogue 

So I cut off.... oh.. maybe 8-10 cm, then tried the flip idea, with about 1cm worth of spacer above the stem. It built up just fine, but since it's a 30 degree stem, pointing it downward just... Idunno, just didn't work visually. I think it would've turned people off. So I flipped it back to point upward, and re-stacked it to be aprx. in the middle of the ST span above the headset. Here's the result:

I think it works for initial visual appeal, and should provide enough of a clue as to what adjustment options it has.

I'm still debating bringing the saw, etc, in case a buyer wants it cut even more. But then I'd also have to bring a socket, hammer, etc. for resetting or replacing the star nut. May be more trouble than its worth.

HillRider

If the buyer is local you could make arrangements to meet him/her after the sale is over to cut the steerer to its final length.

Russ Roth

I'd not worry about the buyer and leave it to cut themselves, you've left enough to work with and given a decent visual look. Its a new fork, so don't deal with whiners.

madpogue 

Yeah, thanks for the ideas y'all, I am leaning toward leaving the cutting tools at home. I can at least leave 'em with another star nut.

UKFan4Sure

One thing is for certain, too long is going to be better than too short except for the fact you'll have to buy spacers to fill in. Cutting it too short may cost a sale if the owner needs it taller.

madpogue 

Well, it got one test ride, but didn't sell. Doubt it was on account of the fork. There was a LOT of competition. We featured four bikes and sold one, and I'd estimate that overall, only about 30% of the bikes in the corral sold. It's going on CL next, and then I'll be able to offer to re-cut the steerer.

dedhed

Weather probably didn't help either

madpogue 

Well, it was pretty well attended. But no doubt, a LOT of out-of-towners bailed out.