Steerer Tubing

John said:

Hi,
I'm thinking about customizing my bike and I'd like to extend the
fork a lot. I figured I could do this by making the steerer tube
longer.
Is there somewhere I can order some steerer tubing with the correct
threads and a coupler to join them?
Or, is there some place locally like a machine shop that would do
this for me?
Places like Home Depo sell 1" pipe and they thread if for you but
it's the wrong thread count and they only have one die. I need 26 or
28 threads per inch.
Also, I've tried looking for a really long fork on the net but
couldn't find any. Who on the net sells extra long forks?

Thanks
John

This is not a mechanically sound way of raising your stem height. The
joined steerer would likely fail, causing you to lose control. Instead,
look for a high-rise threaded cruiser stem, sold by Pyramid bicycle
products, carried by J&B distributors at your local bike shop. Also, local
bike shops should have adjustable stems with which you could angle it way up
and get your handlebars high.

To answer your last question, there is an Alpha Q-carbon fork with a really
long steerer, but it's carbon/threadless and likely unsuitable for your
bike, unless you're willing to change headsets.

You need to add more details like what kind of bike, what wheel size it
takes, and what it is you're trying to accomplish. I don't mean to sound
condescending, but if you don't know what you're doing, you may very well
injure or kill yourself with your from-the-hip layman engineering.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

"John" wrote: (clip) Places like Home Depo sell 1" pipe and they thread if
for you but it's the wrong thread count and they only have one die. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not only is it the wrong thread pitch--1" pipe is not 1" diameter. And the
thread is tapered.

John said:

Hi,
I'm thinking about customizing my bike and I'd like to extend the
fork a lot. I figured I could do this by making the steerer tube
longer.
Is there somewhere I can order some steerer tubing with the correct
threads and a coupler to join them?
Or, is there some place locally like a machine shop that would do
this for me?
Places like Home Depo sell 1" pipe and they thread if for you but
it's the wrong thread count and they only have one die. I need 26 or
28 threads per inch.
Also, I've tried looking for a really long fork on the net but
couldn't find any. Who on the net sells extra long forks?

Threading a steerer extension together isn't going to hold together if you're
trying to do a chopper thing. You'll run into all sorts of issues with mounting
the headset bearings as well.

Mostly you'll need to weld or braze or have a buddy who can.

Ron

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

I don't mean to sound

Quoted message said:

condescending, but if you don't know what you're doing, you may very well
injure or kill yourself with your from-the-hip layman engineering.

LOL. So I guess you wouldn't recommend cutting off a fork on an old
bike and sliding them over the dropouts on my bike and bolting them on
like I have now?

Yes, I'm trying to do the chopper thing. I didn't want this to be a
discussion about the problems with the rake angle, trail and seating
the bottom crown race that are associated with extending the fork. I
already have highrise handlebars but I want a longer fork. Thanks guys
for your help.

John

John said:

I'm thinking about customizing my bike and I'd like to extend the
fork a lot. I figured I could do this by making the steerer tube
longer.

I have done this in a handful of different ways. The drift of your
questions suggests that you aren't ready to take on any of the methods
I have used, which involve silver brazing and lathe turning.

If making a rough-and-ready chopper bike is your goal, and you are
content to do a bit of trial and error, then these pages may be of some
use to you:

http://dclxvi.org/chunk/tech/fork/index.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/olympia/cobb/117/cpcp1.htm
http://scul.org/SCUL/Fleet/Construction/Construction.html

Chalo Colina

John said:

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

I don't mean to sound

Quoted message said:

condescending, but if you don't know what you're doing, you may very well
injure or kill yourself with your from-the-hip layman engineering.

LOL. So I guess you wouldn't recommend cutting off a fork on an old
bike and sliding them over the dropouts on my bike and bolting them on
like I have now?

That's probably safer than the threaded on steerer tube extension you were
asking about.

Quoted message said:

Yes, I'm trying to do the chopper thing. I didn't want this to be a
discussion about the problems with the rake angle, trail and seating
the bottom crown race that are associated with extending the fork. I
already have highrise handlebars but I want a longer fork. Thanks guys
for your help.

Ya know, I'm seeing welding equipment real cheap at places like harbor
freight....

Ron

John said:

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

I don't mean to sound

Quoted message said:

condescending, but if you don't know what you're doing, you may very
well injure or kill yourself with your from-the-hip layman
engineering.

LOL. So I guess you wouldn't recommend cutting off a fork on an old
bike and sliding them over the dropouts on my bike and bolting them on
like I have now?

Yes, I'm trying to do the chopper thing. I didn't want this to be a
discussion about the problems with the rake angle, trail and seating
the bottom crown race that are associated with extending the fork. I
already have highrise handlebars but I want a longer fork. Thanks guys
for your help.

John

I see your intentions now. Your project is totally doable. A friend of
mine created a chopper using three forks, end-to-end, welded together.
Check it out in action here:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/cbr/chopper.jpg

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil said:

I see your intentions now. Your project is totally doable. A friend of
mine created a chopper using three forks, end-to-end, welded together.
Check it out in action here:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/cbr/chopper.jpg

It would not take much leaning back to move the vertical projection of
the combined bicycle-rider center of mass behind the rear axle. 😉

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley

Johnny Sunset said:

Phil said:

I see your intentions now. Your project is totally doable. A
friend of mine created a chopper using three forks, end-to-end,
welded together. Check it out in action here:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/cbr/chopper.jpg

It would not take much leaning back to move the vertical projection of
the combined bicycle-rider center of mass behind the rear axle. 😉

Yes... wheelies were a little too easy, hehe.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil said:

A friend of mine created a chopper using three forks, end-to-end, welded together.
Check it out in action here:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/cbr/chopper.jpg

That's pretty cool. He just needs some highrise handle bars. I had to
put all new cables on when I put my highrise handle bars on so they
would reach. I'll post a photo when it's done.

His seat should never go back past the rear axle. That's could be a
problem

John

John said:

Quoted message said:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/cbr/chopper.jpg

That's pretty cool. He just needs some highrise handle bars. I had to
put all new cables on when I put my highrise handle bars on so they
would reach. I'll post a photo when it's done.

His seat should never go back past the rear axle. That's could be a
problem

Here's the very first chopper I built for myself:
http://img2.uploadimages.net/318128babeside.jpg
http://img2.uploadimages.net/446771babe02sm.jpg

I limited the length of the fork to keep the thing from getting too
tippy, but even so, it can easily wheelie when I climb hills or when I
hit an abrupt upslope (like a curb cut) with the front wheel.

Doing this sort of modification to a bike while keeping the original
size wheels makes for a very high bottom bracket, which complicates
mounting and exaggerates the already touchy handling qualities on
takeoff.

It's a fun and easy way to build a chopper, though.

Chalo Colina