Cutting down fork steerers

[scant]

£9 pipecutter from B&Q

this question was on STW yesterday, some1 had used an angle grinder! hahaha

 

[B3]

An easy way to mark a straight line around the steere is to use a piece of card and roll it around the steerer then line up the top edge, mark around the edge for a nice square end.

 

[gump]

angle grinder? never thought of that...


jigsaw mebbe?

 

[Lysander]

electric carving knife and an nail file!

 

[wolvotim]

I did mine on my pace RC35's. Couldn’t be easier. I marked the steerer where it came out of the stem and cut it with a hacksaw in a vice about 5mm below my mark.

 

[Porschenut]

The easiest way to get a straight cut while doing this at home is to get an old aheadset spacer to use as a cutting guide when using a hacksaw. Find out where you want the line, place the spacer right there, tape it to the tube with some duct tape or similar product and then cut away. The spacer will be somewhat ruined but they're cheap as nails anyway and someone always has an extra one sitting around.

Good luck.

 

[worksok]

fork steerer

cut it with a hacksaw or anything else. like someone else said doesn't need to be perfectly straight for ahead forks - doesn't matter about how it looks either cos it's hidden by the stem/top cap. has anyone used a pipe cutter? I've got one but never tried it on bikes cos assumed it wouldn't cut steel only copper

 

[Lysander]

Nail clippers and the side of a matchbox.............

 

[Kestonian]

Teeth - a couple of good chomps should do it

:mrgreen:

 

[Porschenut]

Re: fork steerer

cut it with a hacksaw or anything else. like someone else said doesn't need to be perfectly straight for ahead forks - doesn't matter about how it looks either cos it's hidden by the stem/top cap. has anyone used a pipe cutter? I've got one but never tried it on bikes cos assumed it wouldn't cut steel only copper

It should work fine on steel since plumbers use theirs to cut cast iron pipe regularly.

The only caveat with a pipe cutter, is that with a soft material like aluminum, it swells the metal to either side of the cut. Basically, the edge of the cut will have a slightly larger diameter than the rest of the tube after the cut has made. It's easy to correct though. Use a metal file, dremel with a grinding bit or angle grinder to taper the edge back down.