I have seen cracked steerer tubes but nothing I would attribute to headset spacers. That is to say, it’s crazy how tight you _can_ make M5 hardware.
Still, companies don’t usually throw max numbers out just for fun. Most the major brands - in any category of cycling gear - test to failure.
In the original layout for this piece I was also going to talk about stiffness. For example, folks with 35mm bars, 38mm forks, and carbon wheels not accounting for how much flex some steerer tubes have (with lots of spacers) but it seemed to muddy the waters especially when talking about the benefits of a higher rise bar having more (different) flex - or damping - or...
So yeah, I’m not panicked by seeing more than 30mm of headset spacers bit most really tall folks I know still haven’t discovered a bike that’s too big for them so I think lowering the stem and using a high rise bar is a good fit option over a big stack of spacers.
Sept. 17, 2020, 5:27 p.m. - Andrew Major
I have seen cracked steerer tubes but nothing I would attribute to headset spacers. That is to say, it’s crazy how tight you _can_ make M5 hardware. Still, companies don’t usually throw max numbers out just for fun. Most the major brands - in any category of cycling gear - test to failure. In the original layout for this piece I was also going to talk about stiffness. For example, folks with 35mm bars, 38mm forks, and carbon wheels not accounting for how much flex some steerer tubes have (with lots of spacers) but it seemed to muddy the waters especially when talking about the benefits of a higher rise bar having more (different) flex - or damping - or... So yeah, I’m not panicked by seeing more than 30mm of headset spacers bit most really tall folks I know still haven’t discovered a bike that’s too big for them so I think lowering the stem and using a high rise bar is a good fit option over a big stack of spacers.