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A while back I built up a Ragley Trig & got a little anxious about carbon forks & bar, worries that were assuaged here.
I've been riding the thing for a while now and am starting to get the hang of it & enjoy the rides. However, browsing the forum today I've discovered talk of "the ring of death", something I'd been hitherto blissfully unaware of.
I gather that this is scoring on the steerer (usually around the upper headset bearings) as a result of a loose headset. Should I be periodically removing the fork to check the steerer? The Trig also has an integrated crown race where the lower bearing sit directly on the taper; I'm not sure if this is an area that might be problematic.
I've tended to think that too much tightening at untightening carbon components is potentially going to stress them more than leaving alone.
I've tended to become a bit complacent with checking steerers as my main bike, a Swift, has a pretty solid steel one.
As an aside, removing that fork is going to be a bit of a job as I rather foolishly used its internal hose routing, so I'm actually going to have to disconnect the calliper (I wish flat mount brakes used banjos).
So, what's the drill with carbon steerers & bars or am I being unduly anxious as usual? Thank goodness the frame is steel!
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I've had carbon forks on my Tripster for er, 9-10 years. Occasionally adjust the bung to make sure nothing's loose, but not often. I seem to remember a particular type of headset had that scoring issue, but can't recall which it was.
I don't have any carbon bikes but as it happens youtube threw this up in my feed today.
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So mainly make sure your top bearings are decent and not seizing up. I shall check mine this afternoon 🙂
Two types of ring IME:
The split upper compression wedge ring-thing will compress the CF slightly and form a noticeable, but smooth, dip around the steerer. IME this isn't a problem
The other is caused by the same part if it has sharp ends where it's split. This will chatter if loose and chisel the steerer. File the split smooth and keep the headset adjusted in either case
The lower bearing tends to seize before the top, but a check of both once or twice a year has been adequate for me
So just a case of checking under the compression ring once in a while? The video above was suggesting that there could be enough wear to lead to failure.
Failure due to compression and wear would be an extreme case, it's possible but it would need some neglect and a lot of hard effort or leverage on the stem (or a dodgy fork).
...which is one reason why I think modern road race bikes with integrated front ends and hidden cables making removal of the fork more difficult or mechanic-time expensive than ever are stupid...Â
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So just a case of checking under the compression ring once in a while? The video above was suggesting that there could be enough wear to lead to failure.
I think that pre-supposes that there is wear. What I referred to as "compression" ^^ has that appearance but is actually a light polishing effect and arguably is "wear".
If you think that the steerer is worn take it to someone who specialises in CF repair and see what they say. That's the caveat out of the way.
I like videos by Raoul Luescher, who runs Luescher Teknik and has worked for Boeing Aerospace, Defence and the Australian Institute of Sport.
Pick his videos carefully to increase your knowledge without scaring yourself 🙂 This video shows wear causing delamination (at 3:45 on)
The whole video is worth watching
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Thanks for that, I enjoyed that video, but blimey, that steerer was a mess!
The Trig's external routing fortunately, so there's nothing in there like that cable retainer, but I gather that standard compression rings can be problematic if the headset is too loose.
A plastic compression ring may be a good idea, rather than a hard-edged aluminium version.Â
There were some technical bulletins issued from Trek? I think. These warned against using carbon grip paste anywhere near the steerer, i.e. stem/steerer interface. This was because with rain and/or washing the paste was migrating downward and causing damage.