qcpmsame 

Its your bike, your build and your paycheck making it possible, that said, I would go with a Cinelli quill stem and traditional bend, Cinelli, or other brand, silver bars. Only time I switched to an adapter and thread-less stem was on a somewhat C&V bike, a 1997 R500T Cannondale, didn't seem right. JMO. The stock Coda stem and bars were quill type, but were a welded steel for the stem. I should have followed my gut and gotten a 1A Cinelli stem and some traditional bend aluminum bars for it. I learned a lesson.

Bill

gomango

Touchdown.

Nitto Pearl

Soma Hwy Ones

Works well for me.

Vintage Raleigh

Quill unless it was a hammer bike.

But then I'd upgrade the frame, cranks, wheels, brakes and gears.

DIMcyclist

I like the classic look of a quill, but you can't beat the maintenance advantages of a threadless stem.

That said, if you want an anatomic bend on a high-quality alloy HB, I'd recommend the Nitto M106. Proportionally it's a lot like the FSA Omega (and about three times as expensive), but has a 26.0 clamp diameter like the Soma Hwy 1.

gaucho777 

Quill in a landslide.

daf1009

Your bike...your decision...you proved that both can look good on a C&V bike...

Paramount1973 

Hmmm. I'd go with the Highway One in a heartbeat since it is similar in reach and drop and less than half the price. There are a ton of inexpensive short reach/short drop handlebars in the 31.8 clamp size. On a couple of my bikes, I have converted to a threadless stem adapter, threadless stem with a 31.8 clamp diameter, and 31.8 clamp handlebar. I switched my Trek 660 over to this setup with Tektro aero levers and barend shifters. It's fugly but I don't care. I didn't have to spend a lot of money and it works.

Henry III

I just happen to have a Cinelli 1A 100mm in silver with silver Soma HwyOne bars not being used. If you catch my drift. Lol.

sloar 

I have a Cinelli stem and Cinelli bars. Also 3T 26.0 ergo bars and plenty of threadless stems. I have what I need.

NormanF

I agree but if you must have one, VO's Grand Cru is a work of art.

DIMcyclist

Precisely: there ARE a lot of shallow-drop HBs in 31.8; but only a small handful in 26.0. Which is to say that, if you want to use an anatomic-bend bar with a classic-style quill stem, your choices are very limited.

And you're right about the Hwy One, Btw; I thought it had an 85mm reach & 135mm drop, but it IS almost identical to the M106, which definitely makes it good value for the price.

Beyond that, it's an aesthetic question, and it really depends on your taste, interests, and, really- the bike itself; that is, what you intend to use it for. As an example, my Buenos Aires is purely a sport bike, TIG-welded from lightweight tri-butted steels; I built it for performance and it has a (Thomson) threadless stem (which is somewhat brutal, but quite fitting on that particular bike). On the other hand, aesthetics were a bigger consideration when I built my Torelli, a lugged frame with a traditional threaded fork, and frankly the adapter & threadless set-up on it kinda ruins its looks. Had I been aware of the existence of either the M106 or the Hwy 1, I would most definitely have used a quill stem on it.

I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to call it a work of art, but it IS less offensive than a lot of other threadless stems:



(My Panasonic has that very set up; I think it looks Okay.)

Lascauxcaveman 

For a threadless, that Grammo ain't too bad. But still, stick with the quill. I wouldn't ever go with a threadless on an old bike, unless the replacement fork dictated it. Modern bike with fat tubes? Sure.

RobbieTunes

Quill, dammit.

You need to drink a better beer.
Your current one has you thinking all funny.

On a steel bike with "petite" tubing, the quill stem and slim seat post rise up, parallel, out of parallel HT/ST's.
The "reduction" in diameter is roughly the same to the eye, and provides balance.

This is why silver stem/silver seat post and black stem/black seat post work so well in these cases.
This is also why phat carbon bikes often look good with 31.8 posts and their modern stack & stems.

Don't mess with that mojo.

It would be like having knobs on your charging handle, know what I mean?

Then again, all that is BS if you can't get the fit you need.

sloar 

Can't get any better than Miller High Life, which I happen to be drinking right now. The build: Ciocc SLX with Chorus 9 speed, Proton wheels and Cinelli quill stem and Cinelli bars. Which I planned on doing, I just wanted to see other opinions. Now I know and I apologize.

sleepy

Form or function? Pop a threadless stem adapter, best of both worlds, able to raise the cockpit, easier to switch stems without having to unwrap the tape everytime, that is, if you like to fiddle with fit.
I've found the set-up stiffer with a threadless stem, appearance be damned. Better selection of bars, too.

look171

It came off my old Look KG 171. Now it going on a custom steel frame. I has this frame for a long time, but we never painted it or ridden it. Its 15 or so years old now. I have a couple of 1" carbon forks (carbon steer tube) left from the old days with two full shimano 9 spd gruppo. I am thinking about putting my 10 spd DA on there which I have never used. Its brand new and its just been sitting in a box. I am in no hurry to do this. I am thinking about selling my TTT ti quill stem. Its too short for me at 100mm. Have more bars then I know what to do with it. Mostly TTT bars. Skinny bars (which I like more then the fat ones).

look171

This is by far the best looking stem I ever had. I bought it for my KG171 only to replace it with the threadless Cinelli Ti stem for weight saving.

Only if I can have it back Cinelli Pinocchio Quill Stem | Planet X

I am not one bog on appearance on bikes. function over form, but since the stem is about the only thing I ever look at while suffering like a dog, then its has to be good looking.

look171

I fine those ITM tig welded stems of the same era to be the prettiest. Nice and thin, shiny too. Cinelli 1A is the second best looking. Modern stem looks like **** but they work and work well.

verktyg 

+1 Hear! Hear!

@sloar I'm a loss for the proper MC phrase.... "....like Hogan's goat" or "where's your stick".... On your bikes with the stems way down they look pretty good though.


I think that threadless stems were one of the best improvements in component technology since Shimano index shifting - just not on skinny pipe bikes!


10 years ago when I started riding road bikes again I bought a Nitto MTC-04 22.2mm quill to 1" threadless adapter to use on the 1983 Colnago Super I was building. Because of old neck problems I use 70mm - 80mm stems at the maximum height. With the Nitto adapter an a short high rise stem it looked really dorky! Went with a Cinelli 1a stem with Ritchey bars instead.



Next time I work on this bike, I'm switching to Cinelli bars and non-aero brake levers...



BTW, I still have the Nitto adapter that I'll never use. Hint, hint....


verktyg

Chas.