# Homemade Headset spacers



## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

After converting my stem to the new style all I needed was the spacers to complete the job. Thought I'd make my own and paint them the colors of the bike. Turned out pretty good I think.


View attachment 278838


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

What are the spacers made from?
Why do you have all those spacers, then have your stem flipped? You could have the same handlebar position without flipping the stem and use less spacers.


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

The spacers look good but have you considered that you have too many?

Most forks list a maximum steerer tube height above the headset. Yours looks to be too long, too high. 
It's dangerous; you're putting a lot of bending stress on that steerer and it might snap.

If you flip your stem you could put your bars in the same place and be able to shorten the steerer a little more, but even that might not be enough. You may have to get one of those +17 or +25 degree stems to get that bar height with a safe steerer tube.

I'm not being harsh or giving you grief, just trying to help you be safe.

Edit: I think most companies recommend no more than 40mm of spacers but obviously the fewer the better.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

tlg said:


> What are the spacers made from?
> Why do you have all those spacers, then have your stem flipped? You could have the same handlebar position without flipping the stem and use less spacers.


I have a new uncut fork and I'm determining the height that I want. We'll see how it goes. I think there may be quite a bit of torque on that steerer so it will probably be cut down in the future.

The spacers are sch40 pvc pipe


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Agent319 said:


> The spacers are sch40 pvc pipe


Not a good idea. Plastic is compressive. You might not keep consistant pressure on the bearings.

What size did you use? 
1-1/4" PVC has a 1.380" ID. Too big.
1" PVC has a 1.049" ID. Too small.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

I agree with Randy, though I think he means "steerer" where he says "head tube".

You did an impressive job, though the whole setup reminds me again how ugly (IMO) threadless stems are compared to the old quill stems. I'm curious why you switched it. I assume it's because you needed a new fork?


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

JCavilia said:


> I agree with Randy, though I think he means "steerer" where he says "head tube".


Thanks JC, you're right, I'll do the edit.

OP, again, sorry to rain on your parade, but you made the situation worse by using plastic. It can bend, allow the steerer to flex and will wear on the bottom and change the preload on the bearings.

Good headset spacers are snug-fitting Al or carbon.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

Randy99CL said:


> I'm not being harsh or giving you grief, just trying to help you be safe.
> 
> Edit: I think most companies recommend no more than 40mm of spacers but obviously the fewer the better.


I don't think you are being harsh but I agree it looks unsafe. It has 55mm of spacers so it's got to be cut down for sure.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

tlg said:


> Not a good idea. Plastic is compressive. You might not keep consistent pressure on the bearings.
> 
> What size did you use?
> 1-1/4" PVC has a 1.380" ID. Too big.
> 1" PVC has a 1.049" ID. Too small.


Yeah I didn't know what roll the spacers play in this I was thinking they were cosmetic only. Not the case I guess.

The pvc I used were the couplers for 1" pvc which have an ID of 1 1/8 which is what most steerers are today. I have a 1" steerer with a converter to 1 1/8 to accept the stem.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

JCavilia said:


> You did an impressive job, though the whole setup reminds me again how ugly (IMO) threadless stems are compared to the old quill stems. I'm curious why you switched it. I assume it's because you needed a new fork?


I like the changeability of the stem and more options that are readily available with these stems as well.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Agent319 said:


> Yeah I didn't know what roll the spacers play in this I was thinking they were cosmetic only. Not the case I guess.


Nope, not the case. The spacers are used to adjust the preload on the bearings.



> The pvc I used were the couplers for 1" pvc which have an ID of 1 1/8 which is what most steerers are today. I have a 1" steerer with a converter to 1 1/8 to accept the stem.


Now I'm confused. Is your steerer tube (the fork) 1" or 1 1/8". 

Did you use one of these? If so then yes, the spacers are just cosmetic. In fact you don't even need spacers.


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

tlg said:


> Nope, not the case. The spacers are used to adjust the preload on the bearings.
> 
> Now I'm confused. Is your steerer tube (the fork) 1" or 1 1/8".
> 
> Did you use one of these? If so then yes, the spacers are just cosmetic. In fact you don't even need spacers.



My brain hurts....


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

tlg said:


> Did you use one of these? If so then yes, the spacers are just cosmetic. In fact you don't even need spacers.


Yes, that changes everything! If you've got that extension, forget everything I said!


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

tlg said:


>


Yes that is what I used. I have a 1" threaded steerer converted to 1 1/8. If you look closely at the bottom of the shims you will see the headset is the old style and has a screw on shim to preload the headset bearings.

So I can keep the pvc shims then?


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Agent319 said:


> Yes that is what I used. I have a 1" threaded steerer converted to 1 1/8. If you look closely at the bottom of the shims you will see the headset is the old style and has a screw on shim to preload the headset bearings.
> 
> So I can keep the pvc shims then?


Ahhh now it makes sense. It was hard to tell in the original photo.
You can keep the pvc spacers. No harm will come to you. Except perhaps by the fashion police.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

So you still have a threaded headset? Then, as the others have said, your spacers are non-functional. So no worries.

Though now I'm really puzzled at the reason for the conversion, since you didn't get the one functional advantage of the threadless headset (simple bearing adjustment).

Oh well, different tastes, I guess.

The colors are nice


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

JCavilia said:


> So you still have a threaded headset? Then, as the others have said, your spacers are non-functional. So no worries.
> 
> Though now I'm really puzzled at the reason for the conversion, since you didn't get the one functional advantage of the threadless headset (simple bearing adjustment).
> 
> ...



Yeah that's one thing I didn't get. Also trying to keeping that nut that keeps the bearing and fork in place from getting mangled up when removing it is a tough job. The threadless steerer eliminates that.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

tlg said:


> Ahhh now it makes sense. It was hard to tell in the original photo.
> You can keep the pvc spacers. No harm will come to you. Except perhaps by the fashion police.


Ok you guys know it's pvc but I shouldn't have told you so let's keep it our little secret and they'll never know.


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

Randy99CL said:


> Yes, that changes everything! If you've got that extension, forget everything I said!


I'm reminded of Gilda Radner (RIP) saying "oops, nevermind".


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Agent319 said:


> Ok you guys know it's pvc but I shouldn't have told you so let's keep it our little secret and they'll never know.


Post #2. Question #1: "What are the spacers made from?"

While the material wasn't known, it was obvious something wasn't normal. As well as the number of spacers and color scheme. The fashion police monitor stuff like that.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

Randy99CL said:


> I'm reminded of Gilda Radner (RIP) saying "oops, nevermind".


Ah yes Roseanne Rosanadana


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Agent319 said:


> Ah yes Roseanne Rosanadana


No, it was Emily Litella.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

JCavilia said:


> No, it was Emily Litella.



I stand corrected


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## MisterMike (Aug 12, 2004)

PlatyPius said:


> My brain hurts....


+1 I just don't get it


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## Camilo (Jun 23, 2007)

JCavilia said:


> So you still have a threaded headset? Then, as the others have said, your spacers are non-functional. So no worries.
> 
> Though now I'm really puzzled at the reason for the conversion, since you didn't get the one functional advantage of the threadless headset (simple bearing adjustment).
> 
> ...


Nah, another functional advantage ... to some people ... is that with threadless type stems, it's a lot easier to remove bars and or change the stem itself. You don't have to mess with removing the tape and brake levers. For whatever reason you want or need to do that. Note - I do like the looks of a threaded stem, but don't mind the looks of the threaded. I used one of those converters on a bike once just because it was easier to deal with and I could experiment with stems, and handlebars (using stuff I had laying around).


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## AJ88V (Nov 14, 2012)

I wouldn't be too concerned about PVC spacers being too compressive. They are plenty strong enough to put preload on the bearings and they don't carry full load, being on the top of the bearing set which has all the road force applied from the other side. Plus, I wouldn't be too sure that all the carbon fiber rings we use are that much less compressive than PVC. 

As a precaution, regular checking of headset play is called for, but isn't that always true? (note that this doesn't really apply to OP Agent319's situation with an old style headset.)

I would be concerned with using PVC spacers eventually cracking. The CF spacers will have much more resistance to that.

The real question is why even bother when you can get real spacers so cheap. I just got some CF (or "CF-looking") spacers off ebay for $5 shipped. Anodized aluminum ones are also dirt cheap.


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

AJ88V said:


> I wouldn't be too concerned about PVC spacers being too compressive. They are plenty strong enough to put preload on the bearings and they don't carry full load, being on the top of the bearing set which has all the road force applied from the other side. Plus, I wouldn't be too sure that all the carbon fiber rings we use are that much less compressive than PVC.
> 
> As a precaution, regular checking of headset play is called for, but isn't that always true? (note that this doesn't really apply to OP Agent319's situation with an old style headset.)
> 
> ...


This is good to know. 

Why use pvc? I'm a tinkerer at heart and needed something at the moment and thought what I could use? Ah! I have some pvc available. Worked perfect.


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## JasonLopez (Aug 19, 2012)

Looks better than expected.

Can you push that quill stem adapter down into the head tube more? Mine don't look like that, always able to get them down in there for a better fit.


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## AJ88V (Nov 14, 2012)

Agent319 said:


> This is good to know.
> 
> Why use pvc? I'm a tinkerer at heart and needed something at the moment and thought what I could use? Ah! I have some pvc available. Worked perfect.


Actually, for your setup, you don't need the spacers at all, since you are not using the 1-1/4" steerer tube of the adapter to set the bearing preload of your 'classic' 1" headset. The steering stem clamping force will hold the stem in place - no spacers needed at all! But it might look a little weird without the spacers.

Now that I think about it, can't you just loosen that adapter and slide it deeper into your 1" steerer tube so there's not so much "tube" sticking up above your stem and bars? And that would get the drive point down near the lower headset bearing, which, if anything, might be even better/more direct.

BTW, it's nice to learn about the adapter product you used. The new steerer stem/bars setup is light-years better than the old stem and bar design of classic bikes, for exactly the reasons you stated. Cheers!


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

JasonLopez said:


> Looks better than expected.
> 
> Can you push that quill stem adapter down into the head tube more? Mine don't look like that, always able to get them down in there for a better fit.





AJ88V said:


> Now that I think about it, can't you just loosen that adapter and slide it deeper into your 1" steerer tube so there's not so much "tube" sticking up above your stem and bars? And that would get the drive point down near the lower headset bearing, which, if anything, might be even better/more direct.
> 
> BTW, it's nice to learn about the adapter product you used. The new steerer stem/bars setup is light-years better than the old stem and bar design of classic bikes, for exactly the reasons you stated. Cheers!


The steerer tube has not been cut which is the reason for the stem and bars being so high up the adapter is bottomed out on the top of the steerer tube. Plan is to cut the tube at least an inch this weekend to drop it down.


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## AJ88V (Nov 14, 2012)

Agent319 said:


> The steerer tube has not been cut which is the reason for the stem and bars being so high up the adapter is bottomed out on the top of the steerer tube. Plan is to cut the tube at least an inch this weekend to drop it down.


My bad. The steerer tube of the adapter would be too big to let you lower it further into the original 1" tube of the fork. Never mind..... ;-)


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## RoadrunnerLXXI (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm planning to trim mine too. What's the best tool to use to make a clean cut?


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## Agent319 (Jul 12, 2012)

RoadrunnerLXXI said:


> I'm planning to trim mine too. What's the best tool to use to make a clean cut?


I used a hacksaw and then light sanded them to get a clean look


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