I just got my new bars installed tightened to 9 and the monopost slipped down while riding outdoors. Tightened to 10 and it dropped one line even while on the trainer for one hour. Any other ideas?

I am considering getting the Alpha One bars, but a few different customers reporting loose or wobbly monoposts is a concern.

Has this always been solvable, or are there any stories of ongoing issues?

  Have emailed back and forth with Tririg and going to try tightening the bolt to 12 Nm and loctite on the screw. 12 Nm had mine secure for several rides but I noticed it move a little when on the trainer while reaching for TV remote. I checked the tightness of screw and it had loosened some. I suppose from vibration. Hopefully the loctite will work.

Have installed the Alpha One on my Argon 18 E-116. Just wondering if I've got this right, looking to lower the Alpha One as low as possible. The top headset bearing cover there I need to keep on... right? The Alpha One doesn't cover the bearing fully if it's not there. I do have the 1.5mm spacer in there. Would I be able to get a lower profile headset bearing cover like the TriRig Dustcovers?

Anyone familiar with Argon 18s? Where the headset bearing is now, is the the "3D" headset? Can I remove that and lower the bearing down into the frame? If so.. how? Or is this as "slammed" as I can get it? Google searches just get me more confused haha.

---

Strava

Hello, I've a question I assume will make the aero brain trust squirm, but want to know if anyone's epoxied a garmin mount to the Handlebar cavity cover? Any "you will ruin it" reason not to do this?

My extensions are too short (b/c I am short) to accomodate anything forward of my BTA bottle, and my face is too close to the BTA to put the garmin on top of it. Need an alternate plan.

Thanks.

---

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Hi all, wondering if anyone can enlighten me oN THE FOLLOWING.

1. On the Tririg's installation guide, the steerer was to be cut to 2-3mm below the surface of the integrated stem. Just curious why this required?

2. Can the steerer be cut flushed to the top of the integrated stem instead/or even left extending more to contact the underside of the stem cover, assuming the cables/hoses/wires have space to route around the sides of the steerer under the cover.

3. The stem cover sits on the stem only around the it's rim. It does not sit down against the top of the steerer tube/compression plug like a normal stem cap. However, when the stem cover bolt is tighten down, the stem cover gets compressed and flares out off shape.

Question: How many Nm should this stem cover bolt be tighten to?

3. How does this stem cover and bolt preload the headset bearings if it does not contact/push down the stem onto the headset bearing like a normal stem cap?

TIA!

1) Amount of steerer tube it needs to be safe, but optimize how much cable real estate you have.

2) Yes to above the stem, no to contacting the cover. You need some space for the cover to pull on the steerer tube and apply the appropriate preload.

3) This shouldn't happen. As you're tightening, hold the cover inline with the stem. The exact torque isn't very important here, just enough so if you were to rock the bike with the front brakes locked, there's no play in the headset. Probably in the range of 4-6Nm

4) It should push down on the stem re: 3

Hi nonobovey, thanks. I understand what you have mentioned, and these work for a conventional stem with a conventional stem cap & bolt. Not quite sure they apply to the Alpha One.

This is the steerer cut per Tririg's installation guide. 2-3mm below top of the stem.


This is the Alpha One's stem cap, or more correctly termed as the cable cover by Tririg. It's sort off an invert 'u' section, with the side rims extending lower then the under surface of the cover below the stem bolt.


When the cable cover is on, only it's side rims contacts the top on the stem. There is no way to get the under surface of the cover to contact and compress down on the top of the steerer (see the visible tread of the stem bolt in photo). If the stem bolts is further tighten, all it does is compress the cable cover causing it's side rims to flare outwards and deform out of shape.

As I was not confident to apply torque and load to the stem cover, here’s what I’ve been doing on my alpha one:
- cut the steerer ~1mm below stem top
- put the alpha one on the fork
- put a conventional stem cap above the stem
- apply preload (I just stop screwing before the steering gets stuck)
- screw the stem side bolts to torque
- remove the conventional stem cap
- put the cover instead (no torque, it’s just a cover)

What is the cover made out of? I had thought it was similar to the Profile Design Aeria Ultimate Stem where the cable cover is metal and functionally acts like a cap.
Make sure the expander plug isn't loose and everything else seats flushed. Ultimately, if that's not working, you can preload the stem (cable cover removed) with a normal cap +/- a spacer, tighten the pinch bolts, then remove the pre-loading cap and replace with the cable cover with just enough tightness to hold it in place.
If your headset is still giving you play, I'd disassemble it and give it a good cleaning/overhaul. It looks like there's a lot of gunk which could be the source of your problems.

We thought alike! Except for my steerer being slightly shorter, i did exactly what you did. Hahaha!

Was just curious if this was how it was meant to be.

That is the recommendation I always go with. In theory you can do preload with the stem cap but I always feel better about it with a normal cap. I also probably go slightly over the recommended 1nm for the cable cover but it can sometimes rotate a bit if it isn't very tight. A small crack in it isn't exactly a problem as long as you always have another stem cap around for installation.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

You hopefully have all your needed info but none-the-less, here was my experience.

Initially my steer tube was cut not quite as short as the instructions suggested. Don't know whether the mechanic was going from his general experience vs reading the instructions, but I experienced lots of loosening of my headet assembly. Overall, IDK whether the issue initiated from the length of my steer tube, or maybe more likely - from the kind of compression fitting I had. It was the one previously on the bike (Cannondale Slice) the top cap for which possessed an interior sheath that used to slip inside the interior of the steer tube. My take is this served to place the compression assembly at a certain depth from the top end of the steer tube. My compression wedge thingie didn't seem to stay tight enough and was slipping, I think. Setting the preload was difficult - as you and I observed, the Tririg cover deflects under not-much load, and since I was unable to use my orinal stem cover for this purpose, I grabbed a large diameter washer. Still had the loosening issue, though.

End result: I went to an alternate mechanic (& owner) at the shop that did this work for me and he swapped my compression fitting - from what I see with it installed it doesn't look like the kind I had before, rather has a different top that reminds me of that metal flange that I'd seen in steel headtubes. He also cut a little more of the length off the steer tube. I still use the washer for setting the preload, though unfortunately it does deflect under the load.

Hope you like your new setup. Mine is a pain in the ass bc the slice itself is a pain in the ass to get the fork into position and my travel packs involve a high degree of bike origami.

---

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Thanks @reabdeal and @Tsunami for sharing. There's no play/movement in my headset at the moment, so all's good for now.

To easy my own trepidation, I manage to find two small alum spaces to take up the space between the cover and the top of the steerer/comp plug now. At least when I tighten the cover bolt down, it has something to push against and doesn't flex.

A different question - it seems like the smaller bolt of the monopost is stuck for me - can't seem to take it out, and already part of it is now stripped..
Looks like it has quite a bit of salt qeound it, tried warm water but still no success..

Any tips or ideas?

Do you mean the one on top of the bar just in front of the monopost? In theory that doesn't need to ever come out. It's just there to keep the wedge from falling out when the monopost isn't installed.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Yeah I meant that one (in front of the monopost, the small 2.5 allen one).

So the reason my monopost won't move is because of the salt around it and not because of that bolt I guess?
Had to figure it out in order not to break anything..

By chance, have you resolved the slipping? Just built up bike and having same issues even at 12nm. Didn't try Loctite yet (blue or red?).

  I finally had the slipping resolved by applying park tool super grip to the monopost and blue loctite to the threads at 12nm.
Everything was fine until I decided to get refit. The loctite made a mess in the threads. The stuff hardened in there and the screw would not stay tight after the refit. It managed to stay tight for Chattanooga but the following week it loosened back up again.
I ended up getting a soldering iron and heating up the hardened loctite and was able to remove a lot of it. I reapplied the super grip and more loctite ,for now it seems to be holding.
If I had it to do over from the start I would not use loctite just the super grip stuff. I probably used too much loctite. Just be aware that the super grip is very gritty and will scratch up the monopost.

Has anyone found a proper work-around for this? On my first install, I heard a cracking sound & backed off immediately. I used a secondary top cap to finish the preload then after tightening the pinch bolts, placed the aero cap with maybe a quarter turn, just enough to keep it in place. I greased the bolts beforehand & used carbon paste on the steerer, seatpost, etc - all the standard stuff. After browsing through this thread I'm seeing that others have come up with similar solutions independently. My "flat kit" & travel checklist now include a secondary spacer & top cap for preload. No issues anywhere else on the bar. The monopost & angle adjustment are solid.

.

---

---

I do the same as the other have mentioned.

1. use a normal stem cap to preload to 4nm.
2. tighten the two(2) stem bolts.
3. remove the normal stem cap.
3. install the aero stem cap and tighten just enough till it cannot be shifted/moved by hand.

the only thing i have done differently now, is that i manage to get hold of two(2) M6 alum spaces to put between the hollow space below the aero stem cap and the top of the expander plug. This way, even if i tighten the aero stem cap down, there is no longer any space below for it to squish out of shape.