Tapered Top Cap

[Dave W]

OK I have a brand new set of straight steerer carbon forks with carbon steerer. 1.1/8" aheadset with cartridge bearings. The lbs has kindly cut my steerer for me to match my old forks ...... only they've cut them two to three mm shorter than I'm happy with.
Can the cap be changed for a shallower one? Can they be purchased sepa

rately?

[borisface]

You could certainly get a stem with a lower stack height. Not sure about the 'top cap' - do you mean the top race for the headset? You should be able to get one with a lower stack height. I'm sure someone will be along shortly with what you'll need.

[Dave W]

Can't change the stem as it's part of a tiller. Yes the black part, don't know what the proper name is for it.

[cycleruk]

The top of the steerer has to be 2 or 3mm below the spacer for the cap to be effective.
Are you saying that the steerer is even more so than this ?

The cap is the part on the very top with the 1 screw in to set the bearing load.
The spacer in your case is the part that the variable stem is attached to but is all the stem.
The only way, in this case, I can see the height being altered is with a complete new different stem.

I presume you have the proper topcap/bung for a carbon steerer. ?

[Dave W]

They've cut the steerer so its probably about four mm below the top of the clamp. I have the proper expander assembly for a carbon tube. When I torque the headset bolts up the gap in the top of the clamp is squeezing up too tightly really, which indicates to me that the steerer is a little short. Not much I can do about it unless a shorter cap/spacer was available

[Dave W]

See the top gap closing up.

[mattsccm]

Been there. I just went through my box of old bits and found one off another h/s. You may gain 10 mm there. Ask the shop to look in their bin, especially if they made an error.

[Keezx]

OK I have a brand new set of straight steerer carbon forks with carbon steerer. 1.1/8" aheadset with cartridge bearings. The lbs has kindly cut my steerer for me to match my old forks ...... only they've cut them two to three mm shorter than I'm happy with.

That LBS is an idiot , ask him for a new fork.

[UpWrong]

Yes, you need a Cane-Creek compatible headset with a 41mm ID and a smaller upper stack height than you currently have. Maybe this which is what my Metabike came with, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fsa-orbit-is-2-cc-headset/rp-prod6183

How very annoying. I always cut my steerers long and use a spacer if necessary.

[Dave W]

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-pa ... ce-headset

That would do it I reckon 10.5mm stack height then I could add a spacer?

What a useful forum this is.

[531colin]

Mostly straightforward.....from your photos, existing headset is 36 x 45 degrees, thats the angular contact fit of the bearings.....only snag is existing BBB headset says its 41mm, thats the internal diameter of the head tube, which is the measure those nice people from Hope use "hope 3" here..... http://www.hopetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/HOPE-HEADSET-FITTING-CHART.pdf....using 45mm external diameter seems odd?
Edit....as you were...internal diameter here....http://fsa-4207.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/055_IS-2-CX.pdf

[UpWrong]

I have an unused FSA Orbit IS-2 apart from the crown race (installed on a fork which was used a little but now not). This is because I had two forks for the bike, so both crown races were installed but I only used one set of bearings and caps etc. £15 posted? I'll get the race off the forks too. I can get this sorted over the weekend but if you are wanting to get back on the road asap then Halfords is a good option.

[Dave W]

Thanks for the offer but I ordered a new one last night. I reckon it will be ok for now as the clamp area is so big.
The 26" forks I took off were surprisingly heavy, I have now converted to 700c so hopefully that's the last of the spending.

[Samuel D]

The bit above the stem is normally called the “top cap”. Some confusion in this thread comes from your calling the tapered piece of your current headset a “top cap”.

I’m not sure you can tell much from the stem clamp having a narrower gap at the top bolt than the bottom bolt. Sometimes these things are not very precisely made. Did you make sure both bolts were clean, similarly greased, and tightened alternately in small increments until the specified torque and not beyond?

How tall is the clamp on that stem? If taller than usual (it looks like some sort of adjustable stem?), the bike shop may not have known you were planning to use it.

[iow]

shouldn't a carbon steerer protrude past the top of the stem with the use of a 5mm spacer below the topcap?