Originally Posted by
tiiger
I had my brand-new Creamroller stolen last week, and found a replacement... a brand-new maroon one on ebay... Looks great, talked with the seller, all's perfect... I should have it by the end of the week.
Question: The steerer tube hasn't been cut down, so there's a mess of spacers on the headset... I'm plenty handy with bikes, but have never cut down a steerer tube. Do you guys use a hacksaw, or a pipe cutter? Is it something best left to my LBS (a really good shop)? Or is it pretty easy to size it correctly? Does the fork need to be removed? Or can you do it with everything assembled?
I know it's threadless, so that probably simplifies it a bit, since I don't have to worry about mashing up any threads... but I'm also not too proud to let my LBS handle it.
here's a pic (still has the reflectors on it!)... can't wait!
Hacksaws are fine. Get a new fine-tooth blade. I used a hose clamp as a cutting guide on one, but it seemed to be a bigger hassle than necessary with the little screw mechanism getting the way. The next time I used a hose clamp to draw a nice straight line around the circumference and then just took my time and cut along the line. Afterwards, I cleaned it up with a dremel tool. A round file works well too.
On the length, before your get out the saw, move some of the spacers to the top of the stem to get the height just where you think you want it. Then ride around on it like that for a few days, just to make sure. Finally, remember that you need to cut it so that you have a 3mm gap between the top of the stem and the top of the stem.