Road Cycling - 2002 Bianchi Imola Stem

I was looking over my bike again yesterday and I noticed that my stem wasn't a conventional stem that you could just remove from the fork. You can see it if you look closely at the picture attached. I'm just wondering if that's any sort of a problem if I decided to replace it. My back is hurting and I was wondering it a shorter stem would help it a little bit, but if I can't replace it I guess my back will just have to keep on hurting.

In the picture it looks like it is a “quill stem”. Just a few years ago it WAS a conventional stem. It can easily be replaced. To remove it you need to loosen it from the top (probably a hex head, and it could be under a plastic cap/plug). Then tap it gently to loosen it and pull it out of the fork. Just search for quill stems and you wont have any problem finding them.

P.S. When you loosen the stem and pull it up you will see a minimum insertion line on the stem. Depending on the length of the quill you may be able to just raise the stem a bit and relieve your back. Just don't pull it higher than the line.

All of the information I can find says the Imola has a threadless headset, as would be expected on a new model Bianchi first introduced in 2002. This is standard on most better bikes these days. On a road bike it will be either a 1" or 1 1/8" diameter headset.

This means the fork's steerer tube extends all the way through the headtube and headset, and the stem is clamped directly to the steerer. You can confirm this by looking: there will be two bolts on the back of the stem to tighten the clamp onto the steerer.

The catalog says this is a Deda Linx 90-degree stem. You can replace it with a vast array of stems from many manufacturers, and they come in different lengths and degrees of rise. This is the standard way of adjusting reach and bar height on a bike with threadless headsets.

Visit your bike shop. You need to check whether you have a 1" or 1-1/8" steerer diameter, and you need to make sure the bar-clamp on your new stem matches your handlebar diameter.

RichC

Rich is correct. The 2003 Imola has a threadless headset. If my picture works you can see the difference from the picture on the Bianchi website. You didn’t mention what year your bike is.

Oh I noted that it was a 2002 in the thread title. The stem is actually welded to the steerer so I believe Nibyak was correct in his assumption in that it was a quill stem. I'll check it out today and get back to you

Originally posted by theshinu
Oh I noted that it was a 2002 in the thread title. The stem is actually welded to the steerer so I believe Nibyak was correct in his assumption in that it was a quill stem. I'll check it out today and get back to you

If the stem is welded to the steerer it's a quill. I'm surprised because I looked up the specs for the 2002 and it said it had a threadless headset. The Cinelli Lynx stem is AFAIK not a quill stem, so these specs -- http://gianni.bianchiusa.com/2002/site/bikes/road/01_imola.html -- just have me confused.

You can buy quill stems with different heights and amounts of extension. The Nitto Technomic line are the classic choice for people looking to raise their bars a lot, and they come in a variety of lengths. There are a number of other choices out there. Choosing one with a 2-bold clamp will make it much easier to get the bars on and off. The Salsa SUL road stem is an example.

RichC

there's another thing to be considered though when raising the bars...looking like a complete goofball. :D

just kidding, but putting that aside, are you a new rider? if so, you might just want to give your current settings a bit more time, for your back to get used to it. since you referred to the old school style stem as different from the "conventional", I'm maybe thinking your are kinda young? if so, then take my above advice very serouiusly.

Yah I'm only 18 and this is my first road bike. It's just that the only trouble I have on long rides (50 or 60 miles for me) is my back. It's not so much that I wanted to raise my bars as much as I was worried about my bars. Well everything seems in order so thanks for your help :).

To whom do we protest in order to bring back quill stems, which are a lot more versatile than threadless?

[two years later] To whom do you protest? I don't know. I guess make a point to buy bikes that have 1" threaded headsets, and let the other manufacturs know why you didn't buy their bikes. Most major manufacturers build bikes exclusively for threadless nowadays, and even Soma and Surly (who produce well-thought-out steel frames that don't cost a ton) designed their frames with 1 1/8" threadless in mind. Tough to get a quill-stem for that size. So, buy a Rivendell or Waterford etc. If Fuji or Trek got tons of emails complaining about this, they might reconsider. (Though I doubt it.)