Help with handlebars

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Claire

New Member
Hi
I have just bought a bike for my son and i am trying to fit the handlebars without much success. It has a long threaded bolt which has a cone like shape at the bottom. The instructions say that i should place the handlebars into the fork part and the then tighten but it does not seem to hold in place. I think it may be called a quill stem but i cant seem to get it tight at all.

any help please

claire
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
Welcome Claire

A quill stem will have a long bolt with either a wedge or a cone that screws on the end, tightening pulls the wedge/cone into the end of the stem forcing it against the wall of the fork steerer and hence tightening everything-up, see here....

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_st-z.html#stem

It could be that the cone at the end of the bolt is spinning round with the bolt rather than tightening-up. Might need to take the wheel out and use a wooden rod to push up inside the fork to push the wedge/cone against the bottom of the stem-bolt whilst tightening until it engages.

Hope that helps a bit!
 

col

Legendary Member
If its what i think it is,your going to have to pull up on the bars,to give some friction to the cone thing at the bottom,to get it started,and gently turn the bolt until you feel its starting to tighten.Once its started you should be ok.
 

Elmer Fudd

Miserable Old Bar Steward
Hi Claire and welcome.
I haven't had a quill stem for years but I think there was a little notch that you lined the quill up with inside the handle bar. you then finger tightened it to keep it in place before inserting the bars and tightening up.

If you hang on in there, far more useful advice will come along, it will be like buses, nothing will happen then three will come at once.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Just to double check Claire - the bolt goes through the stem which ends in a sloping edge and there is a separate part on the bottom with a sloping edge to correspond? It just occurred to me that the bottom bit might have been missing for some reason and this might cause confusion..

Elmer sounds right - the thing to remember is that the loose bit should be caused ot come up the bolt and as it meshes with the stem, be forced off centre - this is what holds it firm. But in order for the bottom part to be forced up the bolt, it needs to be unable to rotate inside the tube - which would be the purpose of the notch. If there isn't a notch, maybe it's worth tightening the bolt a bit before you insert it, not enough to pull the bit off centre, just enough bring it up against the stem to stop it rotating?

Apologies if this is over simple, or alternatively, horribly confusing! It's hard to do without a diagram...
 
OP
OP
C

Claire

New Member
Arch said:
Just to double check Claire - the bolt goes through the stem which ends in a sloping edge and there is a separate part on the bottom with a sloping edge to correspond? It just occurred to me that the bottom bit might have been missing for some reason and this might cause confusion..

Yes those are the parts I have DIY not my strong point wish I had bought him a skateboard now I shall have another go when I have time.
thanks for all the help

Claire
 

Shaun

Founder
Moderator
Hi all,

I've edited the thread as I think domtyler was originally trying to be funny but forgot to add the smilies - a lesson for next time :ohmy: - and things got a bit heated in light of the later comments.

Hope no-one minds me tweaking the thread :tongue:

Cheers,
Shaun
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Claire said:
Yes those are the parts I have DIY not my strong point wish I had bought him a skateboard now I shall have another go when I have time.
thanks for all the help

Claire

That sounds OK then. I suspect you just have to make sure the bottom bit is being held in place so that when you turn the bolt, it stays in one direction and is pulled up the thread, rather than swivelling round on the end of the bolt...
 

col

Legendary Member
Admin said:
Hi all,

I've edited the thread as I think domtyler was originally trying to be funny but forgot to add the smilies - a lesson for next time :ohmy: - and things got a bit heated in light of the later comments.

Hope no-one minds me tweaking the thread :tongue:

Cheers,
Shaun


Tweak away:blush: :ohmy:
 
I've found myself
(- sounds very new age ! I'll start again...)

I myself have found in the past that the loose wedge bit on the bottom just rotated as I turned the bolt, so as others have said the solution was just to tighten it, out of the bike, to the point that it was touching the bottom of the stem, then fit to bike and tighten properly.
Too loose and it'll just rotate as you describe. Too tight it won't then fit down the tube on the front of the bike.
 
Top Bottom