Hello, this evening I've tried to fit a pair of Maverick DUC 32 forks. The problem I have is that the aluminium 'nut' that screws down the steering stem doesn't go far enough down to sit in side the top bearing and compress it ... I assume it's meant to.
So, do I need a new, shorter steering stem and a different top crown or can I extend the thread on the steering stem and use normal headset spacers between the aluminium 'nut' and the underside of the crown? or am I missing something blindingly obvious?
Help or even a pic of the area around your steerer would be great.
Cheers
Stuart
You can get three different top crowns for different headtube lengths.
Edit: Maverick list Sideways Cycles and John Atkins Cycles as UK distributors.
I've not heard of the steerer shaft being to long, normally its to short!
How long is the head tube of the bike with the headset fitted.
Fitting manual is here http://www.maverickbike.com/main/do/Manual_PDFs
mmm, I keep re-reading your post and can't quite picture what you mean. However, I had a problem recently where the headset kept coming loose after the LBS fitted some new bearings for me. The problem was that when I tightened the steerer nut fully it was not locking onto the notched nut used to tighten the headset. The notched nut came loose on rough descents and thus so did the headset.
Anyway, here is a pic before. A 2mm headset spacer above the notched nut but below the crown did the job. Only had one ride since but is was a bumpy one and the headset remained tight. PS the crown is very soft. Be careful.
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You are supposed to cut the steerer bolt to the length required... So if it's too long, just cut a bit off!
Thanks for the info folks ... I'll try to explain a little better.
Ok, the head tube with headset fitted is 120mm long. The thread on the steerer isn't long enough to allow the nut to screw down as far as is needed to clamp the headset. If I screw it down as far as it'll go (and pretend it's doing its job) I have a 30mm gap between the top of the nut and underside of the top crown, the steerer does reach the top crown ... so, can I recut the thread on the steerer so the nut travels further down and use spacers between the nut and top crown as in stilltortoises picture (my spacers would be on top od the nut though)?
MaverickBoy surely the distance between the top and bottom crown is fixed as you can't alter the position of the bottom crown and the top crown / fork legs are tapered so the top crown will only go on so far ... if I cut the steerer I'll still have my problem plus the steerer won't reach the top crown.
Cheers
Stuart
It appears that 120mm is to short, from the Mav site:
DUC32 Crown options:
• Low: 130-148mm stack height*
• Medium: 144-162mm stack height*
• Tall: 154-172mm stack height*
* Measure total stack height: Head tube + Headset stack height = Total stack (do not include any additional spacers)
I think it'd be OK to use spacers but not normal ones - the hole down the center would need to be just a fraction bigger than the steerer stem that passes through.
Cheers ... I'll get my machining head on 😀
Slap a headset spacer in there. Simples Good job you don't have an Aston Martin to worry about 😉
Looks like you've got a Medium drop crown, you could always get a low drop crown instead...
A 2mm headset spacer above the notched nut but below the crown did the job
I meant [i]below[/i] the notched nut