Surrogate Stem (Spacer) For Bike Shipping?
 

Hello,

Here is an interesting challenge (or maybe not if you have been here before).

I will be shipping/carrying my bike on several tours this summer. To get the bike into the box the bars and stem will have to be removed. When this happens I would like to find something that I can put on the steerer tube to take up the height of the removed stem so that I can hold the fork and headset bearings in proper position during shipping.

So far I have spent considerable time at the local hardware and home improvement stores looking for various plumbing and similar supplies that I could make a spacer from without success. Common sizes go from just under 1 1/8" (too small) to over 1 1/4" (too big). I have also considered regular stem spacers but I really need about 42mm worth which would require many small and easily lost individual spacers.

For those that say to just leave the stem on and take the bars off there is a complication. The bike has an Ortlieb clik-fix? handlebar bag mount which blocks access to the handlebar bolts and is a real pain to take on and off which I would rather not have to mess with.

Any thoughts on where I could get or make a suitable headset spacer?

Thanks,
Steve

Why? Just get a locking headset spacer and done. Problem Solvers makes one: https://problemsolversbike.com/produ...headset-spacer and it is designed for exactly what you are doing. No need to futz around with anything just throw that on underneath your stem and done. Remove your stem as often as needed with no problems.

A piece of PVC plumbing pipe, many wraps of masking tape, more headset spacers, custom machining a piece of metal, an old stem all can work. As could many other methods.

There's no real need for the headset to be preloaded during shipping. keeping the various parts in their proper order is more the issue and that's really only for convenience during reassembly. With good packing a slightly loose fork won't cause any problems.

BTW headset spacers have been made in more then 5mm thicknesses. the 40mm+ height would take fewer spacers with 10 or 20mm ones and a zip tie for keeping them with the packing stuff when on the riding part of the trip is easy too.

I've packed a lot of bikes over the years for customers and myself (including that really important person, the wife) and I don't sweat this detail too much. It's not rocket science and a perfect solution that allows preload adjustment is overkill. Not a bad result but IMO not worth too much effort and not needed. Andy

I have also used a zip tie cinched up tight with no issues of loosening. A few rubber bands made from old inner tubes and stacked on each other can also work. veganbikes suggestion of a locking spacer above is probably the best idea though as you don't have to mess around with getting the proper preload when re-assembling your bike.

That locking spacer is very interesting.
Although I love the Get Outta Jail free card in the instructions….”If your fork features a carbon steerer, consult the fork manufacturer to confirm compatibility, ”

I think I’d rather tie my all carbon fork into the frame with string or small bungee cord.

Barry

Locking spacers were common for mtb's cantilever hangers, this allowed a rider to change stem angle and height without needed to re-seat a headset, but it was mostly to keep brake cables fixed.

When I box bikes for shipping, I cut a strip of cardboard the height of the stem and wrap it around the steerer and then tape to form a cylinder. Then put the cap on. You can slide it off and reuse it, or replace in in 2 minutes.



I like the locking spacer thing for travel, though. Especially if you aren't great at getting a nice headset adjustment.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6d46e329c1.jpg

Good idea for a temporary fix.





As others have mentioned I am not quite ready to put a metal clamp around an unsupported carbon steerer tube. Normally stems are clamped against an expanding plug inside the tube which equalizes forces and prevents crushing/damage to the steerer tube.

You don't clamp this with 5nM of force. You just tighten it enough to not slide when the stem is off and the bike has no weight on it. In fact, you could leave it just snug when riding, but only tighten it just prior to stem removal.

And plenty of carbon steerers, which are all the same wall thickness, have been used for decades without compression plugs inside the stem clamp. People talk about that sort of stuff like it's a time bomb, but really it is just additional steps manufacturers specify to prevent improper stem torque causing a failure. Because people overtighten their stems.

Slice a 1 inch fernco and tighten

​​​​​​https://www.fernco.com/dimensional-d...-1056/1056-100

Have a 3d printer or know someone who does? Designing a surrogate stem would take about 10 minutes and printing it might take an hour or two. Simple would be just designing a tube with the right internal diameter and length. More complex would be designing that same tube with a clamp that can be tightened around the steerer.

I'd just cut down an old stem.

If there's a bike co-op near you, they'll have a bin full of old stems they'll practically give away. The shop I volunteer at has a full bin and we just recycle them now.

That would work too. didn't look at pipe menders / couplers.

I found this on amazon and ordered one.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0868JQV9Y...hk_typ_imgToDp

I'll have to cut it down to length. The same seller also has this in silver.

So relocate the expanding plug so it's behind this clamp
The beauty of this clamp is that you can put your stem off and on as often as you want and never have to worry about adjusting headset tension any more.

Far too much worry about this clamping spacer on a CF steerer. You don't need to torque it to the same tightness as your stem. Snug it up so it stays in place and all you have to do is add your stem when assembling the bike out of the box, no switching around special spacers or whatever for shipping. Not really an issue but if it worries you just loosen up the clamp bolt after you have installed/tightened the stem and you will just have what is plain spacer. Any properly made CF steerer will have no problem with this spacer and much easier to live with.

If you want something cheap and light, take your fork to the hardware/plumbing store. Shop either PVC pipe or vinyl tubing. Cut off a piece as long as your stem is tall, plus a bit more. Then you use your top cap and spacers to keep the fork and headset secure.

Personally, I prefer to remove the fork to make the package more compact, and to ensure it won't get bent if the box is dropped or crushed. I stretch plastic wrap oer the head tube, trapping both bearings, and likewise wrap all the spacers and top cap onto the steerer.

I thought of that but the nearest bike co-op is in the next town about 30 miles away.

Both bikes I have bought online were packed and shipped with the handlebar removed from the stem, rather than removing the stem from the steerer. Does the former approach not work in your case?

OP has a bag mount that makes this more complicated.

Oops, missed that; that must be one heck of a bar bag.

Just the Ortleib Click-Fix with its rather complicated single cable wrapping.

We all forgot the perfect fitting spacer to replace the stem: A stack of headset spacers.

OP mentioned it at the top of the thread - didn't want to deal with multiple spacers.