I fitted a shorter stem to my Cube Stereo earlier but the new Raceface one is slightly deeper than the original, so I’ve removed one small spacer but the top cap now sits slightly proud of the stem, as you can see in the photo.

There’s no play in the headset & everything seems OK, so other than the obvious aesthetic issue, does this matter?

Cheers.

[/URL]]linky

Is that the steerer tube you can see?

Move the 5mm spacer from under the stem to on top.

If the headsets tight, it’ll be fine. But, because you can see the stearer tube, there’s now no way of tensioning the headset. Chuck a thin/any spacer in there.

That’ll still leave a gap.

Put the removed spacer back on. It can go above the stem if you are happy with the height of the bars at the moment.

I’d actually loosen the stem, re-tension the headset properly with the new spacer in place and then tighten the stem again.

Uselesshippy – so it would be better to have another spacer in there, which would mean the top of the steerer would be lower than the spacer?

I don’t quite get the whole headset tension thing (as you may have gathered!)

Take it to a bike shop before you damage something/kill yourself 😆

That’ll still leave a gap.

Good point. Didn’t really think that through…

😆 It’s the sort of thing I’d do and then think “hang on a minute”

Uselesshippy – so it would be better to have another spacer in there, which would mean the top of the steerer would be lower than the spacer?

I don’t quite get the whole headset tension thing (as you may have gathered!)the top cap tightens into the steerer, as it does this it pinches everything together to get proper load on the bearings, it doesn’t keep the stem on though, so what you’ve got at the moment is safe, but not exactly properly put together

the top of the steerer is usually a couple of mm lower than the stem/top spacer for exactly this reason, if it’s not then the top cap can’t push down on them

Take it to a bike shop before you damage something/kill yourself

This! Definitely this 😯

Legoman, the topcap needs to tighten down onto the stem to slightly load the headset bearings. You must add a spacer. The headset does the strength stuff, the headset cap just loads the bearings before you tighten everything.

which would mean the top of the steerer would be lower than the spacer?

As it needs to be. As long as the top cap bolt can reach the star nut to tension the headset then it’ll be good.

The top screw screw makes it easier to set the correct load on the bearings. For this to work you mustn’t have a gap. But you can set the load without the top cap screw (as you seem to have done), and once the two screws in the stem are tight the top cap doesn’t do anything.

You need at least a couple mm gap between the top spacer and the top cap to preload the bearings. I usually go for 3mm or more and if there’s a spacer above the stem I make sure it over laps the top of the steerer.

Thanks all, I’ll put the 5mm spacer back on.
It’s going in to the shop for them to look at the reverb in a week or two, so I’ll get them to check I haven’t done something too stupid (hope that puts your mind at rest scotroutes!)

Well. Seeing as you don’t seem to know how the headset, steerer, stem works.

I’d still be very very worried.
Worst case doesn’t bear thinking about.

the top cap tightens into the steerer, as it does this it pinches everything together to get proper load on the bearings

err, no it doesn’t 😯 it needs a spacer to give tension, if no spacer then it just pulls the SFN up…