Part 2 of fitting the rigid carbon forks is the steerer tube bung. The forks from Travers Bikes came with a standard streerer bung suitable for carbon but I was putting an order in with XC Racer shop and if you order three items you get 5% discount. I checked and this bung looked ok for the money. When it arrived it looks tiny and weighs nothing. My scales are not very accurate on lighter items but it shows the difference between the two. Quality and feel of the bung was good but the burning question was it going to work. Fitting is a little tricky as there is nothing stopping the bung dropping down the streerer tube so after applying a smearing of carbon paste grease and placing the forks on there back to insert the bung on its side so it did not drop down too far. You tighten it up with a 8mm alley key. Once nipped up I fitted the fork to the frame etc and refitted the knockblock spacers (more on them in next weeks Fresh Goods Sunday) and stem etc. I reused the bolt and top cap that the bike come with and nipped them up to take the slack out of the headset but the bung pulled up to the underside of the stem. I removed the top cap and loosed the bung slightly and moved it back down approx 3-4mm then tightened up again and gave it an extra nip (max 8nm for carbon steerer). This time perfect, the bung stayed in place with the top cap bolt at the correct tightness (max 4nm). The only downside is you cannot see the lovely little anodised piece of bling! Is it worth the money, well if you want to save a few grams then yes, if not then no. It does not perform any better than a normal expander and is more tricky to install.
RRP £16.99 and I paid £16.14 inc 48hr p&p
Manufacturers blurb - Removable headset expander, practical and very lightweight.
Includes carbon assembly paste & optional red aluminum headset bolt.
Compatible with 1 1/ 8th steerers + offers good protection for carbon steerers versus traditional star nuts).
Compatibility range: Steerer inner diameter: 21 - 25.8 mm
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