star nut Setting

[jonathan]

Gday,

Does anyone have a good method for installing the star nut into the steerer, without buying the park tool for the job.

It looks like once the nut is started then it should drive in straight but getting it started straight could be tricky.

I could turn up a piece of wood that fits inside the steerer and fasten the star nut to that but that does nothing to easy the initial entry.

TA

Jonathan in Stanthorpe
Australia

[tynevalleycommuter]

Hi Jonathan,

I generally screw about a 40mm long 6mm (or is it 5mm?) Allen screw into the star nut, place on top of the steerer and tap it in with a hammer on the head of the screw.

You need to give a fair old whack to initially get it sprung into the steerer.

Once set to roughly the correct depth I generally tap the screw around a bit so that the screw is sitting nice and straight up the centre, so that I know that when I come to fit the screw through the top cap it will engage OK.

Not very scientific I know but it works for me! I guess its possible that you could break bits off the star nut with the initial hit (it has never happened to me) so this should probably come with a health warning - eye protection might be a good idea.

Another way might be a long piece of metric threaded rod in through the bottom of the steerer with a small piece of plate (or a top cap?) and a hexagon nut to pull the star nut in. Could be a bit laborious due to the fact that the fork blades will get in the way of full rotations of the spanner, although a deep socket might speed up at least the first part of the process.

Have fun!

David

[stutho]

Another tip for aligning the star nut it to thread the nut through the top cap so that when you tap down on the protruding screw it is centred by the top cap.  Also worth mentioning is to ensure that the screw is fully engaged on the star bolt to lessen the strain on the threads when you are hitting it.  

This is one of those jobs that looks far more difficult than it actually is – just take care and proceed slowly and you will be fine.

Stutho

[Al Downie]

This is a dumb question and I'm showing the age of my bike, but what's the star-nut for? Does it only exist so that you can screw a tidy-looking cap on the end of the trimmed steerer tube? or does it do something else too? The bike I've been using for the last 20yrs has a one-piece stem/steerer thing, and the allen bolt on top allows adjustment of the height & orientation of the stem, and I'm not sure this new fangled system is a giant leap forwards...

[PH]

quote:Originally posted by Al Downie

what's the star-nut for? Does it only exist so that you can screw a tidy-looking cap on the end of the trimmed steerer tube? or does it do something else too?

The top cap pulling against the star nut pushes down on the stem or spacer, that puts the headset under compression.  It's how the headset is adjusted.  Once everything is tightened up, the top cap can be removed as the stem will be holding everything in place.
Park Tools explain it infinitely better than me
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=65

 

quote:I'm not sure this new fangled system is a giant leap forwards...

It does have pros and cons.  Headset adjustment is a lot easier and done with just an allen key.  Altering the height of the bars isn't so easy.  It’s also a stronger stiffer system, though I never had a problem with quill stems.

[PH]

There are alternatives to a star nut, such as;
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=2218

[Al Downie]

> http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=65

Good grief!! All that faff, and all those tools, just to change a headset??? Blimey missus. Haven't done it for a long time, but I'm pretty sure I used to do it with one allen key and a big spanner...

[stutho]

I have used FSA Compressor Adjuster on a carbon steerer - worked great.  Another inventive alternative is the Ring-go-star which also works well provided that you are careful with the small Allen key adjustment.
 

[PH]

quote:Originally posted by Al Downie

> http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=65

Good grief!! All that faff, and all those tools, just to change a headset??? Blimey missus. Haven't done it for a long time, but I'm pretty sure I used to do it with one allen key and a big spanner...

It’s a tool website, no surprise they’re using the maximum number of tools[]
You have to press fit the bearings in pretty much the same way whichever system you're using. If you can do it easily on threaded you could do the same on threadless, but I’ve never seen an easy way.  It’s one of the few jobs I take to the LBS.
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=127

It only becomes significantly different when you fit or adjust the forks.  Threaded require a specific headset spanner, another large spanner and an allen key.  Threadless require an allen key, plus the one off job of fitting the star nut or alternative.

[mountaincarrot]

I put an FSA one in the other day. Despite having succesfully bludgeoned these in previously, I couldn't get this one started with the big hammer system.

So I dug out an old woodworking sash clamp. With the clamp horizontal in a workmate, I sat the fork crown in one end (padded with a bit of wood), and "jacked" the fangled nut into the steerer (with bolt fitted).

Still a little tricky holding the whole lot straight, but it was a lot kinder and more controlled than the scary "hammer" method!