View Single Post
Old 06-17-09, 08:08 PM
  #2  
joejack951
Senior Member
 
joejack951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 12,100

Bikes: 2016 Hong Fu FM-079-F, 1984 Trek 660, 2005 Iron Horse Warrior Expert, 2009 Pedal Force CX1, 2016 Islabikes Beinn 20 (son's)

Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1242 Post(s)
Liked 94 Times in 65 Posts
First, that's not your crown race. The crown race is at the base of the steerer tube on the fork. The part you took a picture of is your upper bearing cap (my name for it at least) and because it rotates with the fork, it must have a gap between it and the frame. No problem there.

Second, the top spacer is there because your LBS cut your fork too long. In order to not need a spacer on top of the stem, the fork needs to be cut at least 2mm below the top of the stem and sometimes more. With a carbon fiber fork, it is sometimes preferred by installers to not cut the steerer below the top of the stem, as with your bike, so that the stem is fully clamping on the tube. This is assumed to reduce the likelihood of crushing the tube.
joejack951 is offline