I’d like to take off the tips of my syntace ultralites. seems like a hacksaw may not give me a very even cut, like a tube cutter would. unfortunately I know nothing about tube cutters. before I head off to Home Depot, any recommendations for what I should be looking for? does the answer change if I’m dealing w/ an Al steer tube?
It would be tough to do a good job with a hack saw, but it would be possible. Get yourself a decent tube cutter. Make sure it is big enough to handle cutting steerer tubes too. It shouldn’t cost more than a few bucks. I got mine at Sears. Works great.
Go with the tube cutter, make sure it’s large enough for the tube diameter. They have a cheap one for small tubes but I had to go up one size and spend over $20, if I remember correctly. You may want to file down the edges after you cut it so they are not sharp. Also, start small don’t try to cut all the way through on the first turn. You’ll know what I mean once you get it.
Haven’t tried it on the steerer tube, but I’ve seen my LBS cut steerer with a jig in a vise to hold the hacksaw perfectly straight.
Syntace makes their own tube cutter. I don’t know if it’s anything different than what you can purchase at Home Depo, but you might want to check your local bike shop to see if they have one before you shell out the cash to buy something that you might only use once in your lifetime.
Check this and related products from Park tool. (I have the SG-6, which I have used to cut both steerers and bars.)
Mark your bars…go to a plumbing store and they will use their cutter for you…that is the best and only way that I would cut any tube on my bikes. I just decided to buy a really nice cutter that was about $35.00 that will cut anything that is round…plus I was able to use it to remodel the bathroom in my basement and put in new plumbing.
thanks all for the feedback.
I got an $18 tube butter at home depot on the way home last nite. it cuts up to 1 1/8, so figured it would work of the steer tube too if I wanted to try. I like doing my own wrench work, and am not really afraid of trying anything (it’s just an excuse for an upgrade if you really ruin something). That said, the tube cutter could not be more simple. this job was a breeze.
unfortunately to cut the steer tube, i needed to push the star nut in further and wasn’t sure how to do that, so I took the bike back to the shop today for the steer tube. maybe next time.