francophile 

Trek 414 rolled into the shop friday with stuck stem. Like, even more stuck than I watched RJ The Bike Guy creatively tackle on YouTube once. I'd masochistically been waiting for something like this so I could try a wild idea I've had for a while.

Needless to say, everything "normal" failed. Hot/cold treatments, penetrating lube over many days and directions, twisting and turning, 3lb + 5lb hammers w/wood, tapping up from the inside, etc etc. I ended up slipping once and dinging the hell out of the SR stem enough it was blemished, so I even tried a few multiple whacks with no movement (see pic below).

Perfect time to try that new trick, eh. Pickle Fork, Ball Joint Separator, whatever you want to call it. You've probably seen one. (skip to reply 10 below if you want to see the configuration)



Mount the bike upside down in your stand. Slide the pickle fork over the "armpit" or "elbow" of the stem. 5lb hammer, whack what whack and ... maybe you'll find joy just like me. Next step (last resort) if this didn't work was breaking out sawblades and I didn't want that.

Obviously, careful how you mount your bike in the stand to avoid clamp damage while hammering. And you'd be surprised - hardly any damage to the stem from the pickle fork, and it's underneath, I think I could've polished it out.

16Victor

mmm...how about the headset bearings?

mountaindave 

Need a video of that

ThermionicScott 

...with cases of Diet Pepsi in the background.

mountaindave 

High and wide enough to be out of frame.

seysom

more detail and specific please !

Bikerider007

Nice, seems easy enough.

tiredhands 

That's a good idea, I might be trying that soon. I've got a bad feeling the Trek 560 I picked up recently is going to be crazy seized.
The last frozen stem I tackled was so bad it required a 2 week bath in a lye solution to dissolve it away before filing out the remains. (I've since cleaned up the fork threads, don't mind the waviness of the tube)

francophile 

Actually fine, and no dimpling the headset cups. Beefy steel headset though, I think the alloy stem took/dampened the shock? I wouldn't have done this if it were a Stronglight A9 or worse yet a B10, but not sure I would've wanted to use a wrapped hacksaw blade either.

I'll go mock this back up and take a photo for the user requesting it, I know some people are more visual.

francophile 

Ok, here are some pics. Gratuitous pic of the top headset adjustable cup race as well. Headset is well worn, but you can clearly see no dimples (I hope, forum might downsize too small).

mountaindave 

Nice!

16Victor

Here's what I did a few years ago.

CroMo Mike 

The old ball joint separator to the rescue again! Good job!


Worth noting that those pickle forks come in different sizes. The larger ones (with a wider fork opening) are probably best for this job.

francophile 

That ranks up there in the "ballzout" or "here, HMB" category for me

Unfortunately I just sold my MIG and plasma cutter. Last project I got to work on (before having kids) is a few years gone and didn't make any sense having them laying around. Built myself a wheel truing stand and a garden trellis before finally selling them, though.

Yeah, sad part? They also make pneumatic fork sets and I have one, along with a compressor and pneumatic hammer. I was too stupid to remember all of this in the moment, but it probably would have saved the stem if I'd have just realized it before breaking out the BFH.

mountaindave 

Big Friendly Hammer?

francophile 

abso-effing-lutely!