Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Threadless any day, I'd hate to go back to quill stems.
Modern stems
- Thread starter Alan O
- Start date
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Front-loading quills exist.
I'm sure it must be possible to make a beautiful ahead stem but I've yet to see one.
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
But only if Llwellyn makes it a front-loader. Never again will I put up with a thread-through.
That is nice though.
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
A 4 & 5mm allen key can be fitted into a standard compact multitool and will do for most jobs on a modern bike. A spanner big enough for a traditional headset is a bit cumbersome for carrying in the on-bike toolkit.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
It's far closer than anything I've seen in real life. I agree about front-loading, plus it would be good to smooth those bolt-warts on the back, maybe flow them into the sides aero-ish-ly.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
If you need to adjust your headset on the road that often, surely you're doing something wrong and/or the bike needs some time in the work shed or a shop anyway?
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
You don't need to. In the unlikely event that it works loose (it's happened to me once in 40ish years), hand-tighten it periodically (or if you have low finger strength and no friends, lash two straight tools together with cable ties into a rudimentary temporary wrench) and favour the back brake until you get it to a shed or shop.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
But does anyone actually like bikes with toothpaste welds?
If form follows function and ahead stems function as much better as you say, why do they look so malformed?
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
No, not on there, but on some bikes - some welds look like that and function as welds, yet I'd guess you'd rather they were smoothed, so I don't see why anyone would feel the bolt-warts wouldn't be better smoothed too. It would even remove a likely crack point if abused.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
You can make beauty look ugly (and I understand there's a whole subgenre of ugly-duckling films where the lead is given a makeover at some point), but a pig is always a pig, even with lipstick on.
