Originally Posted by
Korina
Something I've never been clear on; what do you do if you want to raise your threadless stem higher than the spacers?
Why purchase a bike that doesn't fit?
A "good deal" that is going to need a new fork to be "just right" maybe isn't such a bargain. Plenty of used bikes have the full allowable length steerer intact.
The answer to many questions about turning a bike into something it currently isn't comes down to "why?". Why put mud tires on a road bike? Or touring racks, or disc mounts on a rim brake bike, or the wrong size wheel, or aero bars on an MTB. Sell the wrong bike and buy the right one.