hey all,
My lovely gf got me a new fork for xmas (Reba SL! yess) and i am going to install it. I'm very mechanically inclined and have a ton of tools, but i'm new to bikes.
1) star fangled nut. how hard is it to press in w/o a special tool? can i uses a nicely sized socket on an extention to drive it downward? that might keep it straight.. is there a specific depth it should be? i planned to use the same as it is in my old fork. is it ok to reuse the old star fangled nut? is this nut's sole purpose in life to hold that cap on? ive heard confusing things about it putting pressure on bearings, but how can a piece of rubber possible apply any force outside of the steerer tube?
2) cut steerer tube. Does the hacksaw+metal hose clamp to keep straight method work well? If not i'll probably just bring it down the street to a shop to have them cut it.
3) w/ my current fork set up, i have 3 spacers above the headset, the stem, and then the cap. would it be a good idea to put an additional spacer on top of the stem to give me a little more steerer tube length just incase? i mean..how much do head tube lengths vary? if i got a new bike is it likely i'll wish the tube was longer? just no way to tell?
4) lube, is there any particular sort of grease/lube i should put on steerer tube?
thanks!
My lovely gf got me a new fork for xmas (Reba SL! yess) and i am going to install it. I'm very mechanically inclined and have a ton of tools, but i'm new to bikes.
1) star fangled nut. how hard is it to press in w/o a special tool? can i uses a nicely sized socket on an extention to drive it downward? that might keep it straight.. is there a specific depth it should be? i planned to use the same as it is in my old fork. is it ok to reuse the old star fangled nut? is this nut's sole purpose in life to hold that cap on? ive heard confusing things about it putting pressure on bearings, but how can a piece of rubber possible apply any force outside of the steerer tube?
2) cut steerer tube. Does the hacksaw+metal hose clamp to keep straight method work well? If not i'll probably just bring it down the street to a shop to have them cut it.
3) w/ my current fork set up, i have 3 spacers above the headset, the stem, and then the cap. would it be a good idea to put an additional spacer on top of the stem to give me a little more steerer tube length just incase? i mean..how much do head tube lengths vary? if i got a new bike is it likely i'll wish the tube was longer? just no way to tell?
4) lube, is there any particular sort of grease/lube i should put on steerer tube?
thanks!