Is this steerer toast?

[Gshock]

A crank brothers headset seems to have left it's mark on my steerer, and now i'm guessing ill need to replace it. I did put on a new CK and the uppper bearing race is above the ridge by cm or so.

[Louis]

Not necessarily.

If it's not too much of a pita, you could inspect it every 500 miles, and after a few cycles of that, decide if it was likely to initiate any problems or not.

(Caveat: it's not my front teeth on the line, if you have a failure.)

[jds108]

Can't say how bad that is, but now I have to check mine!

And my Crank Bros headset is giving me grief as despite the fact it's made of aluminum (cartridge bearing are obviously steel), the aluminum is constantly rusting! I never knew that was even possible (i.e. the rust is brown, and forms just like rust does on bare steel)

[Gshock]

My crank brothers headset was one of the early ones without the lockring with the slot, and would rattle around a bit if not tightened perfectly. The upper bearing had just a thin band that contacted the steerer (where the mark was made), and seems to me like it couldn't possibly be good for at all for a carbon steerer. It was on there for a couple of years and just lately had begun rattling to the point i could never get it tightened up enough.

[fourflys]

I've just never been a fan of Crank Bros... now I guess I know why...

[Peter P.]

If you have the bike to spare, send the fork out to someone such as Calfee Designs for inspection. It may be worth the money.

[vqdriver]

it's not my face if that thing fails, so keep that in mind. but i probably wouldn't worry about it if that were my fork. if it bothers you, you could maybe glue in one of those aluminum inserts at that location.

[Louis]

I'd send the pic to Crank Bros to see what they say...