Do I need to worry about what type and how many spacers I have above my stem on my new Crux??
I will cut my steerer down once I’m sure of the fit, but surely I can have more than 5mm of spacer above the stem without risking death??
Obviously I am acutely aware of the Crux headset compression ring issue, but now I realise I’ve been caught out by the Crux Expander Plug issue..
So I was making a point of checking the manual for my new Crux and saw the page about stem spacers.
As noted above, I want to test the fit before cutting the steerer down. The suggestion that I can’t have more than one “solid” 5mm spacer above the stem seems absurd.
The Melbourne shop that sold me the bike obviously didn’t worry about this instruction because they shipped it with one of the 5mm “scalloped” spacers above the stem as well as the solid one.
I might as well have bought a bike with internal cable routing if I can’t have more than 5mm of spacers above the stem.
This is infuriating. I can’t test the fit of my new bike before cutting the steerer???
Or I have to get a longer expansion plug just so I can adjust my stem!!! Not that they even offer this as an option.
Thanks Specialized!
David.
Yep, I copied my Scott CX to get the stem height, only to find I can’t actually use the stem in the lower position until I borrow a cutting guide.
The fact that the shop installed 2 spacers above the stem seems to prove my point that this height limit is a bad idea, a bit like hookless rims.
I bet lots of people drop their stem without cutting the steerer - like they’ve done on all their previous bikes (eg me).
To make it even more confusing, there is a 2nd single page Instruction guide in the packet with the main instructions and this actually says the limit is 3mm!!??
But that extra guide for Specialized Carbon Forks also says to read it before taking your first ride with your bike equipped with a Specialized carbon road crankset???
My confusion about Crux steerer tubes just keeps getting worse.
Which way around should the steerer expansion plug be in a Crux / Aethos steerer??
It seems I’m not the only one who thinks the labelling is ambiguous, because we now have 2 cruxes with the plug installed the opposite alignment from each other.
Having found the 2 different part numbers in the instructions that came with my bike, I set out to confirm which plug I actually had, and if it had been improved since Hels’ 2022-23 model.
It looks like we have the same plug but one of them is installed the wrong way around and I’m not 100% sure which is wrong.
I think mine is right, because it points at the stem clamp, but at first I thought the word STEM should be pointing at the stem! Obviously the person who installed Hels plug thought that too.
Are these usually installed in the shop or the factory?
Thanks Rich
I admire your conviction.
According to my local Spec dealer, these plugs are factory installed, so the plug in the bottom photo has been like that for ~3 years of riding, courtesy of the factory.
Wow, that was fun working out how to remove the steerer plug from Hels’ bike so I could install it the correct way around!
Should I grease the internal surfaces of the wedges inside the plug?
How about the bolts that hold it together?
They didn’t seem to have much grease on them when I removed them.
