12strings

Yesterday, while staying home with a sick kid, I took the nap time opportunity to cut down my carbon steerer all by myself with a hack saw. Now I don't have a giant chest-impaler sticking up over my stem.

I believe I did a decent job, wore gloves and a mask, and cleaned up the cut with a file and sandpaper.

I put everything back together, and it all seems fine...bit if I never post here again, it's probably because I messed something up, and my steerer asploded on some steep descent...

That's all.. :-)

caloso

Oh my god! You're gonna die!!!!!!!




(Someday, obviously. Probably not from this, though.)

ClydeTim

When I built my last bike, I did everything but put the little star inside the tube. That scares me and I didn't want to buy the tool.

popeye

Using a hose clamp for a guide it's almost impossible to screw up if you measure twice.

12strings

Actually, I measured once, and cut twice... :-)

(It was on purpose...I made a first test cut higher than I really wanted it to test out the cutting quality)

Doge

I overcut my kids 1st carbon steer tube and had to look hard for low profile headset for it. Now my wife rides that bike. She likes putting he hands on the forearm rests so it worked out OK. I left mine with 2 cm of material. I was glad I did as I just raised the bars about 1 cm to get more aero and glad that was there. So now about 1cm sticking out the top - which is what I aim for on all the bikes now.

dalava

You could've done this so much easier with this $15 (with discount) tool: Nashbar - Welcome!

rpenmanparker 

Kudos for your accomplishment. But seriously, why would this even be remarkable. It is one of the easiest tasks you will ever undertake with the bike. I always do mine. I only say this to encourage folks to not be afraid of this really simple job.

12strings

True, as with other jobs, once you do it, you realize it's not a big deal...I used to feel the same way about truing wheels, greeting hubs, running cables/housing, etc...it sounded intimidating until I tried it. This was new to me, and I still don't feel like I understand the uniqueness of carbon, but it seemed straightforward enough.

LUW

If you mess up you may have ruined your fork, and that's definitively nerve racking. So it may be an easy job, a no-brainer in fact, but the first time you do it yourself is a water divider.

12strings

How do you get "so much easier" than marking a line and cutting it?

:-)

Actually, I realize this is a skill that takes practice, but my other hobby is woodworking, and I've been cutting dovetail joints by hand for a few years now, so I'm comfortable sawing without a guide.

rpenmanparker 

Depending upon how anal retentive one is, a guide isn't really all that important for two reasons. First the cut surface doesn't support any stress; it has to clear the screw-on top cap so that pre-load can be applied to the bearings. Second, the cut surface is completely hidden, so aesthetics aren't an issue...unless you are Superman or just incredibly obsessive-compulsive. Sure a nice, straight, even cut is better than a crappy, wavy one, but it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference as long as the irregularities aren't comparable in size to the required clearance between the steerer and the cap.

dalava

And better yet, nothing a spacer or two can't hide, so it really doesn't matter how nice or clean you cut it. But I am anal retentive, so it would bug the hell out of me even KNOWING the thing under the stem is cut like crap.

nycphotography

1 1/8" split shaft collar. Ebay. Two for $10.

(I personally have a couple 1 1/4collars. can stack rubber bands under them to get them to clamp enough to guide a hacksaw.)

rpenmanparker 

Sure, I don't disagree. BTW though, the cut is hidden no matter whether you use spacers or not. By design the top of the steerer must be lower (inside) than the top of the closed column defined either by the stem opening or the spacers.

merlinextraligh

Well it should if you have CF steerer. You don't want to use a star nut on a CF steerer.

merlinextraligh

not exactly text book, but I just use an old spacer. Set the bike up with the stem the height I want it, remove a spacer beneath the stem, replace that with an old spacer of the same height above the stem, plus a 2.5mm to 5mm spacer if you're going to run that height spacer above the stem, and cut against the old spacer as a template.


Comes out the length you want and you don't even have to take the fork off the bike.

noodle soup

I'd love to watch some people here when they get a box of tubes, and need to cut the stays down to size.

rpenmanparker 

I have also done it that way, but I do worry about the carbon dust gettting into the bearings. Heck, maybe that would be good, lubrication and all. But really, it isn't graphite and is probably better not in there. So I usually remove the fork. I do use a spare stem shielded by a spacer as the guide. And BTW I really like a Dremel tool with a cutter blade as the cutting tool. Beats a hacksaw all to hell.

rmfnla

Not the OP so we don't know if it was CF since he doesn't say...

12strings

1. It is a Carbon Steerer. So no star nut, just a compression plug...easy to work with.

2. Also, I DID cut it without removing it from the bike. I taped an old t-shirt around below the cut to shield the headset and rest of the bike from fall-out. I also plugged the steerer with a wad of sticky-side-out tape to catch what fell into the steerer. It worked well. I vacuumed up the debris, including inside the steerer, wiped it all down, and removed the tape wad.

3. Here's a pic. It's not completely slammed, but looks much better than it did before (I cut off about 1.5 inches).

cut steerer.jpg

SpeshulEd 

I use a sharpie and recip saw - just remove the stem and cut.

Goes through carbon like hot butter.

PepeM

Hot butter goes through crabon easily? Good to know.

SpeshulEd 

This is why Paula Dean is always all "Steel is Real!!!" - she can't ride carbon, too much butter dripping on the top tube and the next thing you know, it assplodes.

Homebrew01

I've done that with steel tubes, back in the day.