Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
I doubt the hardened part. I will tell you that the more confident a guy is about cutting and using a die to rethread a steerer tube, the less likely it is that he has ever actually done it.
Is it difficult?
I have a spare fork with a 6" tube, I want to thread it down another inch and chop it to 5". I hope it is easy to get ahold of a die that works. I have course threads for 1 1/8' but no fine threads.......
I took it to my LBS to have the work done. He said "it is hardened and I would need to change out the headset to a threadless, cut the steerer tube, and go from there. However, once I get a cheap headset, stem, and pay for labor I think I'm looking at 60-80 bucks? Perhaps he was just trying to make more money off me (I hope not, I like the guy and he just became a Specialized dealer and the shop is less than 200 yards from my house.