Originally Posted by peripatetic
I'm going to try and throw this back to the top of the list--just once--in hopes that my OP was just plain confusing.
I'm trying to get drop handlebars off of a 70s Raleigh Grand Prix that still has its original Raleigh stem. I took off all of the handlebar tape and have been trying to extricate the bars from the stem. Unfortunately, once I get to the last bend in the bar, it won't budge. I'm asking for any advice on getting the bar the rest of the way out; do I need to completely remove the dry, crusty tape adhesive? It's no longer sticky at all, but I'm wondering if that is creating enough friction for it to be impossible to get the bars all the way off. Twisting the bar is scratching it up a lot.
wedge the stem open a bit with a thick screwdriver blade.