Originally Posted by
Russ Roth
Surprised at all the people saying no, really doesn't look like much damage from the entirety of the steerer tube. I would epoxy the piece down, lightly sand it smooth and never give it another thought. If it takes that tiny amount of damage to a steerer tube to make it completely unsafe and unusable then how do any of you ever feel comfortable riding on a carbon fork? That doesn't even effect the overall structure of the layers its a part of as those are still bonded the other 98% of the way around and doesn't even go the full length of the tube.
Carbon is strong as long as you apply pressure in the way it was designed to. Otherwise, it's brittle. The steerer on that pic is probably going to delaminate when subjected to normal use, and when you find out it's possible you have already smashed your skull on the asphalt on a descent.
I feel comfortable riding on a carbon fork because:
1. Mine is not damaged.
2. I remove the fork once a year to inspect the fork itself and, specially the steerer tube.
3. Nobody except me works in my bikes and I always use a torque wrench when carbon is involved.
Having said that, I don't like carbon because of this type of issues. In my, probably unpopular opinion, it doesn't have enough advantages over a good alu frame to be worth it.