Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Posts: 1,383
Bikes: Cinelli Supercoursa 69, Ritchey Breakaway Cross, Mondonico Diamond Extra 05, Coors Light Greg Lemond (built by Scapin) 88, Scapin MTB, Stumpjumper 83, Specialized Stumpjumper M4, Lemond Poprad 2001
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
If you are going to have more than 5cm of excess steerer tube showing below where the stem sits then you would want an Aluminum ST on the carbon fork. That is the recommendation of the Fork builders. I recently wanted to build a bike with a more upright position for touring and I went from a full Carbon Reynolds Ouzo Pro to a Comp fork for that reason. The opinions expresses by the others are all right on.
On a carbon steerer tube I use a torque wrench and never exceed the supplier recommended torque. Another tip is that if you use a shim for a different size stem/steerer tube then orient the split in the shim away from the split in the stem to reduce the chance of crushing the carbon. I recently observed the problem caused by an over tensioned carbon seat post. Tighter ain't better.
Good Luck