Nekura

I got hit by a car, so I'm replacing my steel fork with a carbon. Should I be cautious using a shim on a fork with a carbon steerer at all?

I'm looking at the Reynolds Ouzo 1 1/8" or the Ritchey Carbon Comp 1".

Any thoughts?

doofo

my thoughts:

get a 1 1/8

mikearena

Your head tube is 1", so you can't get a 1 1/8" fork, so your options are limited - same problem I ran into.

If you're really planning on moving to Atlanta and using this as your daily commuter, locking it up everywhere, I'd be hesitant to go with all carbon, but that's just me.

I wouldn't worry too much about using a shim on a carbon steerer though - just make sure you keep the torque in check. Also, I wouldn't use one of those death trap ships that Anya cut for Mark, as that had sharp edges, and will damage a carbon steerer. Thomson has some nice ones for $6 at Performance, or Lex could probably get you the same thing.l

Nekura

Problem Solvers has shims thru QBP for the steerer... I have to go through the girl's insurance to get my money now, so it's going to be a couple months.

I don't know where I'm going anymore. The Basso will probably have to be my beater.

shogun17

shimming your steerer is a bad idea. Shimming a carbon steerer is a terrible idea. Even using a 1" carbon steerer isn't a good idea.

EDIT. Shimming a stem is fine. I meant using a shim inside the headset (reducer), misunderstanding.

dookie

~10k miles in and i'm still alive. i've had exactly zero issues with my 1" ouzo pro / 1-1/8" ritchey WCS stem/shim (on a steel scapin frame). small frame and thus short steerer, which is a big help.

i agree with a couple posts back...make sure the inside of the shim is absolutely smooth, especially along the slot. the ritchey shim is nice because the slot is cut at an angle, so that it's not parallel with the fiber.

dutret

shimming your steerer is a fine idea. Most people with 1" threadless and non-stock stems do it.
Shimming a cf steerer is fine as long as you make sure the shim is smooth and not going to poke/pinch anything.

Still cf steerer tubes probably aren't the ideal choice for a commuter. Are you getting a really good deal on it or something? If not just go with cf blades and an Al steerer tube.

Nekura

Just shopping around. I had a friend that have cracked carbon seatpost, so I was afraid of the steerer.

mikearena

Fear not. Your friend over torqued his/her seat post I'm absolutely certain, or else had burrs inside his/her seat tube, or some other reason besides carbon fiber just randomly wanting to crack. When has anybody heard of a carbon steerer failing? (I'm assuming as you said before, this will not be your day-to-day bike that you're locking up, running into stuff, popping wheelies, dropping curbs, etc.)

But good call on the Ritchey shim. I forgot that they're doing the diagonal slots on some of their stuff, which I've heard is heaps better in terms of compression, etc.

BoozyMcliverRot

I am using the Ritchey shim on my Bontrager Racelite stem. Never had a problem with slipping.

Nekura

I'm trying to get the fork installed for the race =X

More rake = less trail = twitchier? My surly fork had 38mm or rake... the Ritchey has 43. Assuming it's the same length it should be what I want, no?

shogun17

Yes, it will be faster handling, make sure you get it installed as long as possible before the race so you are used to the change. 5mm is a big jump in terms of fork rake.