Schmolke Carbon Ahead Plugs

We have developed a special carbon ahead plug to be used with fork tubes. No need to carry the heavy expander-mechanism all the time. You’ll save up to 30 g. Just fit our ahead plug instead, it is designed to support the fork tube where it is most sensitive to pressure from the ahead stem.

How to fit Schmolke Carbon Ahead Plugs

Adjust headset as usual. Tighten the stem bolts and remove the adjusting mechanism. Now loosen the upper bolt only, and fit our plug, insert the tubular part into the fork tube and tighten the upper bolt again. If you need to readjust the headset at a later time simply, undo the bolts, take the plug out, fit the heavy mechanism again and proceed as usual. After adjustment replace the heavy mechanism with our plug, keep the heavy part in your toolbox, not on your bike. The plugs are made of two parts, which are glued together. While this construction is sufficiently strong we still recommend pulling them out of the handlebar with care, if possible while rotating them at the same time.

Ordering

Some carbon fibre forks feature an oval steering tube section. Measure the diameter at different places and tell us the average figure. Please keep in mind that the inside diameter of the tube will be reduced by 0.1mm when the stem is fitted. Most of the time you do not need the o-ring, the plug will be held securely in place by the stem’s clamping force. If ovality is too much you may use a standard metal file to remove material on opposing sides to fit the cap to the oval inner section of the tube.