Forum menu
...than cutting a steerer? No matter how many times I check and re-check it still gives me that pit of the stomach fear!
Boo!!!
I can barely cut a seatpost
eee, as me old man allers tort me...
son, measure twice. cut once.....
still, it never does stop the old '1p - 2p' moment as one 'offers up' the cut part to be fitted 🙂
measure twice. cut once.....
I think I measured about 50 times, but it still doesn't stop the need for brown trousers when I eventually come to cutting!
I have some reba world cups with carbon crown and steerer.
They still have 20mm poking through the stem....
Cutting a carbon steerer that's integrated in to the crown..... 😕
several of my bikes have excess steerer (with an old tennis ball shoved on top to provide massive protection in case of me landing on the sticky-outy bit)
Nah, cutting an integrated seatmast on a carbon frame is scarier 😯
Nah, cutting an integrated seatmast on a carbon frame is scarier
Thats something I would definately get someone else to do...
mrlugz - MemberNah, cutting an integrated seatmast on a carbon frame is scarier
Thats something I would definately get someone else to do...
Hell yes! Forgot about that....A mechanic brown trouser inducing moment if ever there was one!
Thats something I would definately get someone else to do...
+1
Just did my new forks the other day, used some masking tape for a line and one of these for a perfect cut.
http://www.mptools.co.uk/products.asp?partno=10580
Works a treat everytime and super quick. As for cutting carbon forks, wouldn't touch them.
No point paying someone else to do it, only cost me a pair of underpants and a 32tpi hacksaw blade 😀
teadrinker - I used one of them and found it excellent (I had a practice go on the top half inch of tube before I did the 'real' cut though!).
Pfft, bunch of pussies! Cutting your steerer right down for use with an integrated stem is when it gets really good - 5mm above the top of your headset? That's where the real action is 😉
Cutting is scary.
However, if you really want to go for that gut-wrenching, stomach-dropping moment of anguish, self-recrimination and an absolute moment of non-delusional clarity as to your levels of stupidity the 30 seconds AFTER you attempt to fit your stem onto a steerer tube that no longer pokes through the headset does take some beating! 😳
Measure twice (or more), cut once, use some kinda guide to help keep it straight, go nice and slow, nice and steady, use a blade with lots of teeth ... what could [i]possibly[/i] go wrong ? Cutting whilst the forks are on the bike is more of a challenge, but still perfectly doable.
(All that said, I feel it's only fair to confess to having used a disc-cutter in the past, then tidied it up a bit with a couple of files.)
Carbon is weird stuff to cut - I don't like the lack of resistance, and there's no feedback in the blade, plus it does that creep self-lubricating thing with it's own dust too ... I keep a very close eye on any cuts in carbon.
Steel on the other hand is lovely, it's a material that makes perfect sense, decent steel has a grain you can feel when you work it, and it flows in a very predictable way. Much prefer steel as a bicycle material, and for all kinds of reasons.
@ muddydwarf - yeah, I can see how that'd make you feel ...