Uncut steerer?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
LittleGreyCat
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Uncut steerer?

Post by LittleGreyCat »

Prompted by all the bike fit questions.

My Spa Wayfarer (brand new) came with an uncut steerer.
I was told that I could move the spacers around to get the best fit, then cut it down.
It is still uncut because the highest possible position seems to suit me.

Looking at most bikes in shops they don't seem to have the same height adjustment.

Do bikes come from the manufacturer with uncut steerers and are then cut down at the shop?
Or are Spa particularly thoughtful in this?
iandriver
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by iandriver »

Spa are thoughtful. One of the advantages to using a smaller specialist shop that understand their customers.
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PH
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by PH »

LittleGreyCat wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 11:12am Or are Spa particularly thoughtful in this?
Yes. Though not unique to Spa, most of the steel touring bike specialists will also either supply with a long steerer or cut it down at your request. Even some of the mass produced touring bikes, from the likes of Surly, will come with a long steerer.
axel_knutt
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by axel_knutt »

Whoever invented this system didn't have the sense to foresee that people might have the need to raise the bars after the steerer's been cut. For a more suitable position as they age, for example.

It's fine if you ride for a professional team that's providing you with a brand new state of the art bike every season though.
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geomannie
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by geomannie »

axel_knutt wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:10pm Whoever invented this system didn't have the sense to foresee that people might have the need to raise the bars after the steerer's been cut. For a more suitable position as they age, for example.
Being unable to raise the bars is actually a deliberate feature in my (jaundiced) view. Manufacturers desperately want you to buy a new bike as you age, rather than adapt your existing one.

There is nothing less interesting to a bike manufacturer than a customer who continues to ride the same bike for many years.
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PH
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by PH »

geomannie wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:35pm
axel_knutt wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:10pm Whoever invented this system didn't have the sense to foresee that people might have the need to raise the bars after the steerer's been cut. For a more suitable position as they age, for example.
Being unable to raise the bars is actually a deliberate feature in my (jaundiced) view. Manufacturers desperately want you to buy a new bike as you age, rather than adapt your existing one.

There is nothing less interesting to a bike manufacturer than a customer who continues to ride the same bike for many years.
If it's a steel steerer, which is what's under discussion, there's plenty of options, a riser stem, riser bars, extended steerer, or have a framebuilder replace the steerer for about £80. Even a new set of forks will be a fraction of a new bike price.
I notice that Thorn now supply bikes with the stem angle downwards, like a quill stem, flipping that raises the bars a few cm, though I'm not keen on the look.
axel_knutt
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by axel_knutt »

geomannie wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:35pmThere is nothing less interesting to a bike manufacturer than a customer who continues to ride the same bike for many years.
This is the problem with consumerism in general, and it's consequences for the environment, it's founded on thinking up gimmicks to manipulate people into throwing away perfectly good stuff and buying new.
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
maximus meridius
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by maximus meridius »

I really didn't want to cut the steerer on my bike. So I just turned the +7º stem upside down, making it a -7º stem, which is now at the ver top of the steerer tube, so gets rid of that ugly bit of spare steerer. And also means an easier thing to hold when I'm wheeling it.

This - http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php - was a really useful thing to work out how many extra spacers I need to end up with exactly the same thing.
scottg
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by scottg »

axel_knutt wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:10pm[snip]
Whoever invented this system didn't have the sense to foresee that people might have the need to raise the bars after the steerer's been cut. For a more suitable position as they age, for example.
Use oldsters use quill stems, or the far superior headclip system. :)

For the price of a Nitto tall quill stem you could buy 3 new forks from Alibaba. :o
https://www.rivbike.com/products/nitto-tallux-stem
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pwa
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by pwa »

Spa and Thorn will give you an uncut steerer (if you want it) to give you the choice of how to fit it. But I don't like more than a few cm of spacers, so I make sure that I get a frame with a long enough headtube to make having loads of spacers unnecessary. My two frames from Spa have both had tallish headtubes, meaning that I got my not-too-sporting position without resorting to a big stack of spacers. I have the possibility of a few cm of adustment if I ever need it.
francovendee
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by francovendee »

PH wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 4:46pm
geomannie wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:35pm
axel_knutt wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 3:10pm Whoever invented this system didn't have the sense to foresee that people might have the need to raise the bars after the steerer's been cut. For a more suitable position as they age, for example.
Being unable to raise the bars is actually a deliberate feature in my (jaundiced) view. Manufacturers desperately want you to buy a new bike as you age, rather than adapt your existing one.

There is nothing less interesting to a bike manufacturer than a customer who continues to ride the same bike for many years.
If it's a steel steerer, which is what's under discussion, there's plenty of options, a riser stem, riser bars, extended steerer, or have a framebuilder replace the steerer for about £80. Even a new set of forks will be a fraction of a new bike price.
I notice that Thorn now supply bikes with the stem angle downwards, like a quill stem, flipping that raises the bars a few cm, though I'm not keen on the look.
None of this was needed with a quill stem. Another design sold to the customer that benefited the manufacturers.
pwa
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by pwa »

I hated quill stems. Like seat posts, they get stuck if you don't put enough grease on, and if you do put enough grease on they move around even after vigorous tightening. I have yet to encounter a problem with bars that can't be raised high enough due to having an aheadset style of headset. In the unlikely event that something happens to me that requires me to raise my bars than more than a couple of cm (they aren't low even now) I may have to buy new forks. Or use an extender. Which will still be better than having to use a quill stem again.
francovendee
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by francovendee »

I may have been lucky but I've never had a stuck quill stem in 70 years. I have had to endlessly (it seems) add spacers to my other bike with the 'improved' system as I've gotten older.
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531colin
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by 531colin »

LittleGreyCat wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 11:12am .........
My Spa Wayfarer (brand new) came with an uncut steerer.
...........
It is still uncut because the highest possible position seems to suit m
..........
Image001 by 531colin, on Flickr

Thats an uncut steerer!
Are you really riding with the bars at the top of a thing like that, or did they just leave you a couple of inches of extra steerer?
pwa
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Re: Uncut steerer?

Post by pwa »

francovendee wrote: 3 Jun 2023, 10:10am I may have been lucky but I've never had a stuck quill stem in 70 years. I have had to endlessly (it seems) add spacers to my other bike with the 'improved' system as I've gotten older.
Many years ago I wrecked forks on a cheapish Peugeot trying to get a quill stem out. Frozen solid. On another bike I had a Cinelli quill stem that simply would not tighten enough unless I wiped off nearly all the grease. Which I didn't really want to do. And I didn't find the lock nuts on threaded steerers always stayed locked. Altogether, I have found the new system (which isn't new anymore) a lot easier to live with. I'd never buy a new frame if it required a quill stem.
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