Jody
Stubborn git
They are fairly straight forward. Take the bearing out, read the number on it and source as required. Or £20/25+ for a complete headset.
Modern stems
- Thread starter Alan O
- Start date
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They are fairly straight forward. Take the bearing out, read the number on it and source as required. Or £20/25+ for a complete headset.
Ahead sets can be made height adjustable but they just aren't. My Audax has a sleeve upon which the stem clamps. You can move the stem by any amount you like rather than using stacking spacers. Arguably still ugly but I've grown used to it now.
The lack of ability to adjust a quill stem headset only hit me once when one loosened as I came down the Honister pass. By the time I'd limped to Keswick I'd hammered the bearings semi flat and needed a new headset.
The lack of ability to adjust a quill stem headset only hit me once when one loosened as I came down the Honister pass. By the time I'd limped to Keswick I'd hammered the bearings semi flat and needed a new headset.
lutonloony
Über Member
- Location
- torbay
Must utube these new fangled things, can't get my head round how they work. Understood old fashioned forks where you lost half the bearings, every time, but just can't grasp how new ones tighten etc.
Folks, thanks for the great feedback!
It's not of any actual practical importance for me, as my steel-framed road bikes have quill stems and that's not going to change (and the steel frame I'll shortly be building up will be the same). And I'm not going to be buying a modern road bike (no, honestly dear, I'm not!)
Having said that, I've tried several different handlebars over the past year and it would have been considerably more convenient to just unbolt the front part of a modern stem instead of having to thread them through the quill stem - and I wouldn't have had to wait until I'd decided which ones to use before taping them.
My MTB has a modern stem (I never knew they were called Ahead) and I think I'm pleased to have the apparently improved strength!
Anyway, the point is I'm considerably better educated on the subject now, thanks to the fine people here
Alan
It's not of any actual practical importance for me, as my steel-framed road bikes have quill stems and that's not going to change (and the steel frame I'll shortly be building up will be the same). And I'm not going to be buying a modern road bike (no, honestly dear, I'm not!)
Having said that, I've tried several different handlebars over the past year and it would have been considerably more convenient to just unbolt the front part of a modern stem instead of having to thread them through the quill stem - and I wouldn't have had to wait until I'd decided which ones to use before taping them.
My MTB has a modern stem (I never knew they were called Ahead) and I think I'm pleased to have the apparently improved strength!
Anyway, the point is I'm considerably better educated on the subject now, thanks to the fine people here
Alan
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
That's a first. Most threads that run to four pages leave the OP even more confused than they were when they asked the question.Anyway, the point is I'm considerably better educated on the subject now, thanks to the fine people here
Alan
Hehe, yes - this one has been good!
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
My Jamis Roarer Leet has something similar. I confess that on one windy day in Scottishland I was glad of it, as I dropped the stem down the steerer in an instant to get out of the wind.
Jody
Stubborn git
Pretty straight forward. They have a star nut inside the steerer tube of the forks. A bolt goes through the top cap on the stem and into the star nut. When tensioned it pulls the foks and top cap towards each other which tightens everything in between.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headset_(bicycle_part)
Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
I do like the headset in terms of it being clamped together rather than a clumsy wedge holding things in place, and the ease in which you can remove a fork. But....
1. more common than removing a fork is adjusting the handlebar height, something a quill stem is an absolute doddle to do, and makes test riding a bike or adjusting on the fly sooooo much easier!
2. if you do need to adjust the handlebar height, you'd better hope your steerer tube is long enough to accomodate your height change, or else it's a new stem for you
3. personally never had trouble with bearings on a threaded steerer. Just sayin'.
4. I've also cycled thousands and thousands of miles on a bike with a quill stem. And I survived. It works.
Now admittedly there are bad sides to quill stems such as the need to have a fork cut at the correct height (that was the manufacturer's responsibility when you bought the bike though), and the wedge thing to hold it in place just seems clumsy mechanically.... and quills are now thinner relative to their headset counterparts (e.g. older quills had 1 inch threaded steerer tubes vs the bigger threadless steerer tubes we have now) so they look more fragile. Also add in the fact that adjusting the bearings will require spanners of the correct size rather than just an allen key...
But again, as far as I know, quill stems seem to have served their purpose without any major problems. I'm going to guess that the changeover had more to do with economics of manufacturing than function, but could be wrong.
I think I'd summarize it for me by saying once I have a bike setup, I prefer headsets for convenience and apparent strength and if I ever want to replace or upgrade a fork, but it's the setting up that can be a pain, my box of used stems is testament to that. However, for ordinary road use, I have no problems using a bike with a quill stem.
1. more common than removing a fork is adjusting the handlebar height, something a quill stem is an absolute doddle to do, and makes test riding a bike or adjusting on the fly sooooo much easier!
2. if you do need to adjust the handlebar height, you'd better hope your steerer tube is long enough to accomodate your height change, or else it's a new stem for you
3. personally never had trouble with bearings on a threaded steerer. Just sayin'.
4. I've also cycled thousands and thousands of miles on a bike with a quill stem. And I survived. It works.
Now admittedly there are bad sides to quill stems such as the need to have a fork cut at the correct height (that was the manufacturer's responsibility when you bought the bike though), and the wedge thing to hold it in place just seems clumsy mechanically.... and quills are now thinner relative to their headset counterparts (e.g. older quills had 1 inch threaded steerer tubes vs the bigger threadless steerer tubes we have now) so they look more fragile. Also add in the fact that adjusting the bearings will require spanners of the correct size rather than just an allen key...
But again, as far as I know, quill stems seem to have served their purpose without any major problems. I'm going to guess that the changeover had more to do with economics of manufacturing than function, but could be wrong.
I think I'd summarize it for me by saying once I have a bike setup, I prefer headsets for convenience and apparent strength and if I ever want to replace or upgrade a fork, but it's the setting up that can be a pain, my box of used stems is testament to that. However, for ordinary road use, I have no problems using a bike with a quill stem.
BalkanExpress
Legendary Member
- Location
- Brussels
NVO adjustable stem? I have one in a Dahon, works a treat and, as a bonus, it is not too fugly.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
Started with the Jamis oem version of an NVO but wanted a shorter stem and the only one I could get was for/from a Dahon.
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
Seems like the best of both worlds, from an engineering and practicality point of view..... but quill stems still look better 
- Location
- London
Hardly common?
I mistreated a bike with one for more than ten years and all the stem needed was a bit of pulling and a clean.
Bought a 20 year old bike (actually same model as the above) that had been sat around doing nowt for 20 years and it was no trouble removing it for a check.
- Location
- London
Agree that no problem at all for a day ride bike where you will be sleeping at home. More of an issue on tour though.
