# spacers under head tube



## mikemike (Aug 28, 2011)

i'm thinking about taking the spacers off between the top of my head tube and my stem and moving them between the fork and the bottom of the top tube on my 4300 to make the frame feel bigger. anyone try this before? thoughts?


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## smilinsteve (Jul 21, 2009)

If I understand you correctly, you can't do that.

On top of the fork is the headset race that sits firmly on a widened spot on the steer tube. The headset race sits against the bearings on the bottom side of the headset. You can't put spacers under the race, and you can't put spacers on top of the race.


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## trevrev97 (Jul 19, 2009)

Will not work do not try. Period


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## Ray Pinpillage (May 28, 2011)

Don't listen to those other guys, make sure you post pictures when you're done.


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## HighLife420 (Apr 5, 2011)

is he not talking about moving the headset spacers from top of the stem to the bottom? 

I know you have to have at least 5mm spacer on top of a carbon steerer. 

Ive took some spacer from the bottom to bring my stem down a bit. 

Unless im understanding him incorrectly.


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## Slee_Stack (Apr 14, 2010)

HighLife420 said:


> is he not talking about moving the headset spacers from top of the stem to the bottom?
> 
> I know you have to have at least 5mm spacer on top of a carbon steerer.
> 
> ...


Is 'under head tube' in the title not descriptive enough?


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## smilinsteve (Jul 21, 2009)

HighLife420 said:


> is he not talking about moving the headset spacers from top of the stem to the bottom?
> 
> I know you have to have at least 5mm spacer on top of a carbon steerer.
> 
> ...


Yeah, you can do what you said, but that's not what he said.


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## HighLife420 (Apr 5, 2011)

Slee_Stack said:


> Is 'under head tube' in the title not descriptive enough?


It is, but when you read it, it kind of sounded like he meant the spacers...was just checking as to what he exactly meant =)

He wants to put the spacer between the frame and the fork...which, you obviously cant do.

Sorry for the mixup. :thumbsup:


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## sodak (Oct 10, 2006)

OP- From what I gathered from your post, you cannot put a spacer under the headtube / on top of the race. However, if you are trying to make the cockpit feel bigger, then I would suggest adding a spacer or two BELOW your stem. That is if your steer tube on your fork is long enough to permit this. This will raise your stem up a bit giving you a taller feel to the bike. Other than that, you could possibly get a longer stem, which will extend your reach slightly making the cockpit longer. Ohh, and you can slide your saddle back on the seat post giving you a few millimeters too.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

You CANNOT put spacers under the head tube. The bottom cup of the headset has to fit snugly in the head tube, and the steer tube of a fork is a little broader at the bottom to fit the base plate of the headset. There's no safe way to change these relationships.

I was about to shoot my mouth off about a specific product that addresses the problem safely, but I realize I don't know what kind of headset is on a Trek. Cane Creek makes a version of their S-3 with a taller bottom cup, that would do that for a bike that takes a conventional 1-1/8" threadless headset, and Real World Cycling distributes a bottom cup for bikes with internal headsets and 1-1/8" steer tube forks.

HighLife420 talks about doing something that's safe and pretty common. If you just want the bars higher, and you don't also want to mess with the head angle, that'll do it. You need to have more spacers above the stem for that to work, of course. You can also flip up the stem, get a higher-angle one, get riser bars, etc.


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## Eckstream1 (Jul 27, 2011)

Ray Pinpillage said:


> Don't listen to those other guys, make sure you post pictures when you're done.


:lol:


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## stumblemumble (Mar 31, 2006)

You MAY be able to get a taller crown race. Chris King for one makes a 10mm crown race, up from the stock 5mm race.
But the CK race won't work with most other headsets such as Cane Creek, FSA maybe uses the same bearing chamfer angle? I just don't know.


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## deadatbirth (Jul 23, 2007)

you can look for a headset with a bigger stack height but putting the spacers under your stem would be a cheap and easy fix. 
this has a super tall stack height of 35mm but is only 1.5"


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## Flat Ark (Oct 14, 2006)

There is a bmx "flatland" company out of Japan named Ares Bikes that makes a spacer/extended headset for bikes with 1-1/8" head tubes. Their U.S. website "was" www.aresbykesamerica.com but now it looks like that U.S. store/distributor is gone. I don't think that's really what you are needing though.

Can you post a photo of your bike? Maybe after seeing a photo it will be easier to offer a possible solution. Kind of sounds like you either need a longer travel fork or a new fork with a longer steerer tube. You just want your handlebars "higher", correct?


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## Lurchlee (Jun 5, 2011)

Ray Pinpillage said:


> Don't listen to those other guys, make sure you post pictures when you're done.


+1 to this, I can't wait to see this monstrosity


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## element_rider (May 16, 2015)

It can be done. Specialized uses a 10mm machined aluminum spacer between the fork crown and the bottom cup of the headset on their Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon EVO 27.5 (See review on pg 43 of Aug 2014 issue of Mountain Bike Action mag). It gives you an effective head tube angle about 1 degree slacker. Not sure if such a piece is available after-market or if a Specialized dealer could order the part in for you, but it is not impossible.


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## Gasp4Air (Jun 5, 2009)

DELETE - totally missed the date. Zombie thread ate my brain, I guess.


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## 410sprint (Oct 19, 2012)

Eight year old zombie tread.....


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

element_rider said:


> It can be done. Specialized uses a 10mm machined aluminum spacer between the fork crown and the bottom cup of the headset on their Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon EVO 27.5 (See review on pg 43 of Aug 2014 issue of Mountain Bike Action mag). It gives you an effective head tube angle about 1 degree slacker. Not sure if such a piece is available after-market or if a Specialized dealer could order the part in for you, but it is not impossible.


You necro'd a 7+yr old thread for that?


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## dbhammercycle (Nov 15, 2011)

Klatu barada nananana/necktie/necro'd...


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## Coal-Cracker (May 4, 2010)

dbhammercycle said:


> Klatu barada nananana/necktie/necro'd...


.









Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


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## Cleared2land (Aug 31, 2012)




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## Fkuashum (Dec 1, 2008)

Jokes aside, can someone recommend a current product that does this - a 10mm 1 1/8 "spacer" (a tall crown race)?


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## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

Fkuashum said:


> Jokes aside, can someone recommend a current product that does this - a 10mm 1 1/8 "spacer" (a tall crown race)?


Ventana made two different height King crown races. I'd call them and ask. The original application was to clear fork top caps.


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## Whiterabbitt (May 16, 2020)

Jokes aside, I’m glad it was raised from the dead. My crown is FLAT, and the lower race is flat to the surface of that, and converted from taper to straight. So its a ton of surface area and all flat. It’s easy to imagine turning an aluminum spacer 2” diameter OD and 1 1/8+ ID to slack out the bike without doing it, uh, the right way.

Yes I know it’s a double necro. But I appreciated the response from the first necro


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## bcriverjunky (Jul 8, 2014)

- 0.5° Angle Spacer for Tapered Forks | Reverse Components


With the tapered Angle-Spacer forks (crown race), you can fine tune and modernise the geometry of your bike.This simple spacer allows you to make the steering angle half a degree (- 0.5°) slacker, enabling you to get even more performance out of the bike on steep and gnarly descents.The spacer...




reverse-components.com


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