I've seen recent talk ... And it's not clear the brakes are hydro .. On the 16 venge btw

that's also super dangerous. I know you're lighter weight, but if the stem doesn't fully contact it puts a lot of torque on the part that does.

I would prefer that they be cable actuated.

Who cut the steerer?

the shop that built the bike...it was originally built with a different stem with a smaller stack height, but yeah I would have rather they didn't cut it without asking me first.

is the lack of a spacer above the stem such a significant thing that I should swap it out tonight? i kind of thought it was just "recommended" that you have a spacer above but wasn't a huge deal.

just checked and it's actually a 10mm spacer below the stem...not that that should matter.

Okay, I follow. Yes, I think you should do this in any case. Continued after Fudgy quote...

Yes, indeed. Super dangerous, I don't know, but as I mentioned earlier, threadless headsets are not supposed to be set up with the top of the stem protruding above the steerer. I thinking switching to something like a -8 degree stem and moving a 5mm or 10mm spacer from underneath to on top of the stem would be a good idea. It may or may not fix the headset problems as well.

i know it's not how the system was "designed," but don't plenty of people run no spacers on top of their stem? It's not like half the stem is above the steerer, just 5mm or so.

anyway, i'll swap it out with the stem from my cross bike tonight. looks like i'll still be coming in with my bars slightly higher, but it's probably a negligible difference in the grand scheme of things.

sorry for posting so much on this but i'm bored, at work, and **** like this gives me crippling anxiety (not joking).

Me too actually

I knew leaving like 20 spacers worth of steering tube above the stem was a good idea.

I have a bunch of spacers above my stem.. Basically because I recently got one of those slammed headset caps.. Besides gotta leave some for the next owner.. And I have 2 forks anyways.. Maybe I'll slam the other one, once it gets painted

Yeah, I kept my steer tube intentionally long on my race bike, thinking it would be better if I ever decided to sell it. That probably will never happen but I just can't get around to cutting it down properly.

Many of the carbon steerer tubes are supposed to be supported by the compression plug, so lots of spacers above the stem is also a problem.

Yes, but they shouldn't.

I once raced with my front wheel skewer only finger tight, basically the lawyer tabs kept the wheel from coming off. I didn't figure out the brake rubbing and weird corner feeling until after the race.

It probably wasn't as unsafe as I think, but I don't need additional risk in a sport where I need two hands already to count the number of guys I know who have suffered fractures in their spines.

Hence, you could probably leave 5mm of space on the top of the steerer and never crash from it, but why the **** would you do that.

Also, 5mm is a lot in a what, 35mm system?

A dude going down my hill hit a bump and his front wheel came off. The ambulance took him the rest of the way down.

Loosening up over time can also be the plug slipping. Paste, torque, and add the 5mm spacer and see how it goes.

how, though? as grolby pointed out, once the stem is tightened, the top cap (and thus the plug) should be extraneous, at least if my understanding of the system is correct.

is your stem tight? I mean, the space has to come from somewhere... Are your spacers the kind that are ridged to fit together/ maybe they were misaligned when tightened, and have since fitted themselves into the grooves and created wiggle room in doing so?

Yeah, stem was torqued to spec. After looking at it again I think my original hypothesis - that not enough stem was on the steerer may have been accurate. Switched the spacer to be above my stem so hopefully that helps.

photos (on my phone so don't feel like embedding):- Album on Imgur

Pick up some 5mm, or even 3mm, spacers so you can fine tune that.

You think a 5mm on top would be enough? Don't really see the harm in usually the 10 other than aesthetics.

Sort of how I have my stem/steerer.

Wow I didn't realize I had two spacers.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M-liphEl2B...1227141529.jpg

Agreed. If the shop cut the steerer like that, with the 10mm spacer under the stem, they screwed up. There was a decent risk of cracking the top of the steerer with that setup, too.


[edit] sorry, now I remember you said it had a different stem originally. Anyway, that steerer is cut too short for a 10mm spacer under that particular stem.

5mm below 5mm above should work and would be closer to your old fit - and symmetry is beautiful.

it's pretty clear they're not standard, which is a huge bummer. i went from being pretty sure i would get a new on in a month (or whenever released) to thinking i may just race my gen 1 venge for a few years more.

will be curious to see what happens for the official release.

i figured whatever they released would be more aero than the s5, but i'm disappointed that it seems they had to resort to proprietary front brakes and BB-mounted rear brakes to get there.

i suspect there are hydraulics somewhere in there (could be a converter box) to deal with those apparent bends. those levers do not appear to be shimano's hydraulic levers (i have both styles--the hydraulic ones are very bulbous).

i was excited to maybe buy a new frame this summer; seems i may not.