bike shop is dangerous..this is a no no in a bad way. Failure might not come in 6mos..or at all but scoring the inside of the carbon tube like that is asking for failure..no questions asked

that's what i thought, but they refuse to admit that, and he is siding with them..."haven't lied to me yet" kind of attitude. I'm looking for much supporting evidence to help him realize the danger. From my time in a shop, this is not the first time i've seen this shop do this.

Saw a carbon steerer with a 30degree upright stem, 3 inches of spacers, and a star-fangled nut once. Yikes!!

any more opinions?

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Ian MacLean
http://www.imfit.ca
Success comes when fear of failure goes

Found the exact thing in a used bike a friend bought... I was going to look into having it removed somehow and contacted Reynolds and they said not to worry, it shouldn't have been done but the danger is in the installation and not the use, and if it had been installed and the carbon fiber did not fracture that it's safe... maybe you should contact the mfg. of the fork...

Ian,
Which model Reynolds??
In this instance just pick up the phone and call tech support @ Reynolds. They will square it away. Then you can CYA and look like a superstar.
HC

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Holden Cain, ObGyn..."People pulling people out of people"

All the Reynolds forks with carbon steerers use a compression plug. They cost $25. and are available form either your LBS or directly from Reynolds. The star nuts are not recommneded.

pretty big safety factor in a Reynolds fork. Time forks used to come with a star fangled nuts for their carbon steerers.

I don't think he'll die.

-SD

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

I didn't read through all the posts, but I'm in a mood to be up on my soapbox...

Carbon steerer tube are dumb. No functional purpose other than weight savings. It's one of those technological advancements that requires a solution to fix the problems it presents. Kind of like internal cabling (pain in the butt!). Or an aero seatpost (have fun with sideways saddle bags and no way to attach a light!). Yes, these things all serve a purpose in their own right, but they also present problems that require new solutions. It's hard to improve upon a proven classic. Chocolate chip cookies. Frank Sinatra music. Steel frames with external cables and square taper bottom brackets.

So anyways, I'm not a big fan of carbon steer tubes. I like the simplicity of the star nut. It works. Easy to adjust and it never needs service. And the extra weight just means that you've got balls because you're just as fast as the guy with the pimped out bike.

I have the star fangled washer in my Look HFC carbon steer tube. Before I put it in I was sure to grind down, then sand any sharp edges (I bet that is what the shop did) - and I put it in. It is about 1000 times easier to adjust than that stupid compression deals that often slip and move about. Like was posted before, the danger is in putting it in, and of cutting the carbon with sharp edges..other than that...once it is in a properly sized and cut steer tube, there is no issue at all. I have a King headset on that bike and once I get that adjusted (monkeys could do that) I tighten the stem, and take any tension off of the top washer of the stem...I would not worry at all - and dont.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

The shop is full of shyt!!!!

When I bought my Aegis frame Last year in March the shop owner tossed me a star nut to get me on my way since he was in a rush that day I picked it up. I placed it in the carbon steerer tube of the custom painted Reynolds Pro fork as I had done with previous theadless forks. Well, I raced it hard in crits for the season and made it through by the grace of the cycling gods.

Not two weeks after my last race I was climbing out of the saddle and I heard a crunch sound around my stem and the bars became very smushy. The steerer tube fractured half way around the front of the tube just under the stem. I limped home trying to make it without face planting.

I called the shop and told them I beleived it was a warranty issue and waited and waited and called and waited and called until finally I tired of waiting and called Aegis. Aegis told me this was unusual for a Reynolds Fork to fail and the chose Renyolds for the quality of the product. So, Aegis gave me the number for the East coast Reynolds rep and had me call him.

The Reynolds rep was very professional and amazed the fork failed and asked me about the torque of the stem bolts, type of stem, stack height, etc. He explained the quality of the Pro fork I was using and its low failure rate. Then the big question, "and you did put a compression plug in right"?

I explained the rushed shop owner and the startnut situation. WARRANTY VOIDED!!!!! I gasped and started caculating $$$$$ for the new fork and the end of the year lack of funds and the wife wants this that and XMAS and those put off house repairs. He explained the compression nut is more of an "expassion plug" that helps stengthen the carbon steerer tube from within. It ensures the steerer will not fail when installed properly.

So go ask your shop if they will cover the cost of the new fork when it fails and it will fail. Ask them to call Reynolds with you present and get warranty info on carbon steerer forks with star nuts installed. The Renyolds rep said that each carbon steerer for comes with the compression plug.

Oh, how did the story end? Said bike shop bought me a new Ozzu Pro Light and it looks great on me ole' Aegis!!! Actually I like the old Pro fork better it was stiffer!!!

Stoots