Bicycle Mechanics - Stem and Fork Will not Stay Aligned

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Freefallman

01-24-09, 05:18 PM

Hi everyone,

So I have a threaded headset with a quill stem on an old road bike. I was getting a little bit of a grind when turning so I opened it up to take a look at the headset. A long story short, no matter how much I tighten the bolt on the stem I cannot get the handbars/stem to hold firm with the fork (ie. a bump to the wheel will cause it to become misaligned). Does anyone have an idea about what's going on and what I can do to fix it?

Thanks.

Metzinger

01-24-09, 06:18 PM

See if the bolt turns freely wedge/plug at the bottom of the stem. Is it binding? Is the bolt too long making the wedge/plug hit the end of the unthreaded part of the bolt? Is the stem a good fit for the steerer tube? Is the steerer tube damaged somehow?

Those are my ideas.

HillRider

01-24-09, 06:19 PM

Pull out the stem and inspect the expander at it's bottom. Be sure the bolt hasn't run out of threads before the expander has been pulled up enough to hold the stem in position.