6
Carbon forks
8.. Before your first ride
Road bike forks are exclusively made for road
and triathlon use. The forks are just as unsuit-
able for riding on unpaved roads, over rough
terrain and jumping etc. as they are for riding
with heavy baggage or towing a trailer. The
maximum permitted overall weight is 120 kg
(rider, baggage, bike).
8.. Adjusting the headset
Before you start to adjust the headset, make
sure to read chapter 12.
“The headset”
and
the operating instructions of the headset man-
ufacturer.
Take the front wheel between your knees and
try to turn the handlebar including stem. If
you are able to turn the stem against wheel or
fork respectively, you must increase the torque
step by step. Never exceed 7 Nm in torque.
8. Carbon forks
Do not file off or remove otherwise the
security notch on the dropout of the
fork. These notches prevent the wheel from
falling out in the event of a quick release
failure.
Bear in mind that the stem can crush the
steerer tube, if the bolts are tightened too
much. In particular forks with carbon steerer
tubes are highly sensitive to overtightening
of shaft clamping at the stem. See chapter
28.3.2
“Assembling and equipping MERIDA
frames”
.
Use a torque wrench when fixing the stem.
Start with 4 Nm and increase in steps of 0.5
Nm to match the recommended torque of
4 - 7 Nm.
Never exceed the maximum torque pre-
scribed by the stem manufacturer. If in
doubt, contact your bike dealer. Check the
torque and the firm seat of the stem after the
first 100 - 300 km and then every 2,000
km.
adjust
release/
tighten
