Hi All,

I have a friend that is going to sell me a RockShox Recon Gold TK for a killer deal, BUT the steerer tube is about 3 inches short of what I can use on my current frame.

Does anyone know if there are any ways around a 3 inch deficit in length?

I had an Idea, but its definitely a bit sketchy:

Find a longer headset bolt and an appropriate length of steerer tube, put length of steerer tube on top of the fork's steerer tube and just bolt them together.

Any ideas/advice/or warning's would be much appreciated

Thanks,
Dan

Buy a different fork. It is a not a killer deal when the part doesn't fit your bike.

Do you like your teeth? Bad idea, go with something else.

Got it! Thanks Guys.
I'm still in the young, broke, and Think I'm invincible stage...

https://sheldonbrown.com/handsup.html..


I used A BBB BHP 21 [From NL] to use on my too short suspension fork , NB its a transportation bike not gnarly down hill bike..
I bought the whole bike, used, so it was worth sorting that detail out.. (now 10 years ago)


https://static.webshopapp.com/shops/0...-254-zwart.jpg


looking it up, new their SRP is just $300 buy a new one .. https://www.sram.com/rockshox/produc...40s636bxq8lmne




.

Yes, that "killer deal" could very well be a literal description if you try to jury rig a too-short steerer. You may indeed be young and broke but you certainly aren't invincible.

Possibilities:

1) Contact Rock Shox to see if a proper length steerer is available and can be fitted to the fork.

2) Buy a frame with a 3" shorter head tube.

Warning: Bad idea. Don't do.

Advice: If you can find that piece of steerer tube, and know a good TIG welder, splice them together. I've seen more than a few successful repairs done that way. Might cost some money, but cheaper than new front teeth or a titanium collarbone plate.

If it’s a metal steerer tube, I’ve used quill-type steerer tube extenders w/o anything horrible happening.

What do really nice suspension forks cost - $1,200, $1,500? Dental work starts at about $3,000 and goes up rapidly from there. Unless you've got a really generous dental insurance plan I'd go with the new fork.

Death trap. 3 inches is A LOT. Cost to replace the crown, steerer, upper assembly would vastly exceed the value of the fork. Welding that is sketch as hell and would probably result in poor alignment causing excessive headset wear.

Not exaclty familiar with that fork and its specs so I have to correct myself.

If the steerer is aluminum, then I withdraw the welding recommendation. In that case, it's not a good idea. Not because of alignment, but because of the loss of heat treatment in the weld area, and because the bead would also make it impossible to fit a bearing seat.

If it is a steel steerer, which I'm fairly sure it isn't, then welding is a completely safe and viable solution.

Recon TK, Its the lower end of their range, at just $300 SRP..

This is the source of my "hella sketchy" comment indeed. The sort of chromoly typically used in steel forks would indeed be generally fine. Also, a Recon TK is nothing to jump through hoops for. It's a pretty mediocre fork with an uninspiring damper.

Also my alignment concern was because, frankly, I've seen a lot of really shoddy welding work of bicycle components done with people who aren't familiar with needed tolerances. I had a customer have their cracked suspenion linkage welded, and there was no way that was going to work--way out of parralell, and warped so that it physically didn't fit on the bike.

Agreed re the steel steerer. I riding a bike with a 1-1/8" steel steerer that I lengthened about 2". I cut a few inches from a donor steerer, then machined a bushing that provided 0.001" of interference with the ID of the original steerer and donor section. 'Pressed the two together to maintain alignment while I TIG welded the joint.

Dean

Is the steer tube short for your comfort, or is it short for your head tube?

If it is too short for the head tube, I wouldn't mess with it.

If it is just low for your comfort, then I'd throw on a riser stem, and be done with it.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/MTB-Stem-45...-/182994119204

3" is a fair amount of rise. That one above looks like about 2" up. The adjustable stems as fietsbob found might even give a bit more rise.

If the steer tube is too short for the head tube, I might consider welding if steel as above, but I'm not sure it is worth the trouble.

I could tell you were a fellow Californian before even looking over at your location.

(I'm in NY now, but a Bay Area native.)