Originally Posted by
rmfrance
I don't subscribe to Sheldon Brown's slightly sensationalised vision of 'the death stem' BUT I've seen even shiny premium stems develop cracks from expander slots whose upper ends were squared, rather than rounded-off. I always round-off any I find like that, using a round needle file - a quick and simple fix.
I like the sound of this. I do want to keep deathly stems on a couple bikes and not have to regularly check them for cracks. Have you got a before and after photo to illustrate the process? Be great to see how much rounding off happens. Many thanks.