Trakhak

I seem to remember some of you guys getting in a tizzy over hipsters taking angle grinders to classic Italian race frames during peak fixie days. I guess that was different, somehow.

BFisher

That steerer sticking out beneath the crown is only there to avoid the extra step/cost of cleaning it up. Price point. Hello?

Remove it or don't. Still an awesome bike either way. Most importantly, it's YOUR call.

1989Pre 

The extra steerer that is visible is not so much a feature, like a dropout-hanger, and more an over-sight.
I think O.P. will get away with putting 28's on, even without removing that extension, but it will be close.

1989Pre 

Yep, a file will never take that down. Dremel or Sawz-All is much better.

1989Pre 

Extra points.

shoota 

Yo OP is in Tulsa? I'm in Stillwater. Let's meet up and do this dance. I've been down this road so many times. No dremeling needed.

mstateglfr 

I never got into a tizzy and I really don't care if someone wants to reduce the use of their bike moving forward.
With that said, surely you can see how removing a derailleur hanger is fundamentally different from removing excess steerer tube that serves no purpose and was left due to cost to manufacture.
One action removes a useful part of the frame and the other action removes a useless part of the frame. One action limits usability and the other action increases usability.

They seem pretty different to me.

Schweinhund

My 83 Fuji has 38's on it with room to spare. It's more like a land cruiser.

bulgie 

I suppose you're probably kidding, but in case not...
As a framebuilder with a couple decades experience ('70s thru '90s), I would always do that with a file. I have all sorts of power tools close to hand but the file is just faster, as well as making the right shape "automatically" by its very nature. Talkiing about a big ol' half-round bastard, makes just the right curve in a few strokes. Example here on my '80s Davidson:


In that case, it was done when the fork was originally made, not an aftermarket mod, but the file strokes are the same either way.
If I'd wanted a bigger radius (like for a fender), I'd have used a bigger half-round.

With the crown out of the way, the front and rear tire clearances are both set by the brake. Here's mine (rear) with a short-reach brake and 30 mm tire, less than 2 mm clearance but that's as good as a mile, works perfectly, as long as you don't want fenders!


Actually now in my dotage I want fatter tires than that, so I'm planning to upgrade that frame to 650b, but that's a whole 'nother level of sacriledge.

Mark B

Schweinhund

Be extra careful with the angle grinders without the anti kickback brake
My chest, this happened about 10 years ago when I was cutting some steel.

shoota 

That's one way to get a third nipple

Drillium Dude 

Just think how many grams will be saved in removing/cleaning up that bit, too!

Agreed, this is actually a fix, and completely different to removing braze-ons or hacking off an RD hanger.

DD

BFisher

I knew a guy who painted his entire house with a 2" brush just because it pissed his neighbor off so much. Guy was a riot.

The Golden Boy 

Or just go down to one.

KiwiAmerican

I was in Tulsa up until Sept. Me and the Mrs moved to San Diego for a bit before we settle down. I’ll be back for the holidays in a couple weeks though!

Soody

If they don't fit, you just have to get another bike that fits them.

jdawginsc 

You won’t know until you try but you might even get smooth 30s on there.

And I am with the file it crew...it shouldn’t have been sticking out to begin with.

DiegoFrogs

I'm sure when this super useful thing was being named, the committee was asking, "...seconded. Are there any public comments on the motion?"

"Uh, yeah! Don't you think people are going to giggle every time the words are uttered?"

[laughter] [gavel] "The motion passes."

Soody

Also man, many current gen tires, conti and schwalbe especially, run 1mm-4mm under on our narrower 'regular' old rims. A lot of '28mm' tires are 26mm.
It's not really worth splitting hairs over 1 tire size difference because the actual size often fluctuates that much.

bulgie 

Anyone else remember when bastard was a dirty word that children weren't allowed to say? Giving us gems like this lil ditty:That was Comedy Gold in 3rd grade lemme tell ya. I had 'em falling off the swingset.

In a long line of similar non-rhymes like

KiwiAmerican

No doubt, I’m not banging my head or pulling our hairs to figure anything out. Was just curious but am glad I came here with it. The 700X25 labeled tires measure 25mm now so I may go up in the future. May even file some tubing off if I'm feeling wild! Always worth the convo though. The bike is great. Doesn’t mean I still don’t need to get b(high) with a lil help from my friends 👍. Thanks again all!

P!N20

Grinding off derailleur hangers, cable guides and shifter bosses was limiting the functionality of the bike. Giving the front tyre a bit more room isn't detrimental to it's use.

Having said that, I probably wouldn't do it.

P!N20

What starts with F and ends in UCK?








Fire truck.

1989Pre 

I'm going to estimate the depth of the extra material here is 1/8". I would be interested in seeing a video of you taking something like this down with a hand file, while not damaging the finish.

Andy_K 

My general philosophy for bikes that won't be ridden off pavement is that if the wheel spins freely the tire fits. (Note: There is a chance that a stick in the wrong place at the wrong time could quickly re-educate me on this topic.)

I put 28's on my Specialized Allez. Here's how it looked with no brake installed (and before repainting the lugs and fork crown):



I don't have a good head-on shot with the brake installed, but this gives you some idea.



If I disconnect the brake cable, the top of the caliper rubs the tire. With the brake set up for riding, it spins just fine. On wet roads, I do get a big build-up of road grit behind the fork.

Not all calipers have the same drop from the fork crown. Depending on the brakes you want to use, that will probably be the limiting factor.