Thanks for the support, everyone!

i had the same problem on my merida and the mechanic only used a carbon gripper paste. it's been about a year now and i have not had the same problem ever since. watching pro bike builds on youtube as well, i've seen that most of them do the same.

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing! I'm surprised how many people have had this issue. This is the fist time I've ever had or seen this problem.

i had the same issue... the original plug is too short, it doesn't hold properly.... i tighten too hard until the tube is slightly crack.... my solution is to replace/use a longer plug.... (more holding surface = more secure)

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you.

@hobbybike51

2 ай бұрын

You're welcome, m'dude. Thanks for the support.

Compression plug should only be torque to 10nm, not as tight as you can. And also that's typical aliexpress compression plug, I grind the outer edges of upper lip so it won't interfere with stem & steerer clamping

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

Cool, thanks for sharing!

@dudeonbike800

Ай бұрын

10nm of torque is irrelevant when everything in this video is bone dry and devoid of appropriate waterproof grease. Only after greasing the fork plug bolt threads, head & wedges will 10nm of torque on the bolt head actually create the intended expansion force needed to allow the fork plug to perform its intended funcion. This is most certainly why the fork plug continued to slide up and out of the steerer tube. Also, the previous user probably bungled proper bearing preaload procedure by trying to preload a tightened stem, or a setup without proper delta in steerer tube length and stem stack height.

@liewchengyeh

Ай бұрын

@@dudeonbike80010nm trick is a hit or miss..... especially there is different quality carbon.... eg. my china carbon use a very hard epoxy for the carbon... thus is very slippery.... and the standard/original short plug doesn't work.... i replaced similar (short plug) it still fail

@KurtisPape

Ай бұрын

I tighten the plug until it flexes the carbon out, meaning the stem has more resistance to slide on, this is usually 4-5nm for me. Any tighter and I can no longer slide the stem or spacers on which means the carbon is ready to BLOW!

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

Actually, I did a steer tube extender install vid and this happened, so EXCELLENT diagnosis lol! Without the extender, what I did actually worked well enough but I'll try to make a follow up vid showcasing your description and explanation. Thanks, great stuff!

install the stem first and it will act as a guide while you tighten that plug

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment! How does one get the compression if installing the stem first? If you have a vid, feel free to link it here. If I'm not learning, I'm not living!🤙

@trailfork7815

Ай бұрын

@@hobbybike51 kzread.info/dash/bejne/kYZtutmJfdqYh6Q.html this, the stem will align it with the steerer tube

@dudeonbike800

Ай бұрын

@@hobbybike51 you set the fork plug with the stem tight. Now the plug is centered and will not move. Then loosen the stem and apply proper bearing preload to the top cap and then tighten the stem.

The knurled plug you removed on the right is totally bone dry. How do you expect the wedges to expand the collets outward against the inside of the steerer tube, and the bolt to turn properly if the threads and everything else are bone dry? When you "tighten" the bolt with the blue Park allen tool, you're trying to overcome the sum of all the friction in the threads, bolt head and expansion wedges. Oh and additional friction caused by accumulated corrosion on the bare metal. It was probably never tight enough to begin with. Another example of how failing to use proper grease at assembly results in problems. I imagine this bike has myriad problems resulting from poor initial assembly. A tale as old as time in the bike industry.

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing and a great take! I'm always learning. Now, there's also the popular belief that grease and carbon don't mix, so how to convince those people otherwise?

@mtlbiketech7960

Ай бұрын

@@hobbybike51 There is carbon safe grease out there, Finish Line Premium is one, you can also use carbon grip / anti slip paste on the fork plug as well.

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

@@mtlbiketech7960 Thanks for sharing!

@dudeonbike800

Ай бұрын

@@hobbybike51 grease and carbon mix just fine. It's like the crowd that erroneously believes you shouldn't grease crank tapers, some people will never listen or learn.

@hobbybike51

Ай бұрын

@@dudeonbike800 I accept this reply lol! Thanks for the comments because they're all good and PLEASE, PLEASE subscribe and comment on all my stuff!!