DannoXYZ

You can't win an argument if you don't understand what its about. Consider this clipped from my response: "So, we get back to nits. The issue isn't whether the stem is designed for a threadless or threaded stem, its whether the rider gets out and uses it. People blowing theories about whats best or right scare too many people away from good experiences on a bike. Which was my point all along."

Take a chill pill. Your arrogence is what hurts the sport. I suppose that you believe that its possible to build a frame that stiffer yet has a better ride too? That's marketing BS too.

You seem to think this is a battle of what's better, quill or ahead stems. I don't. If the bike works, ride it.

While its possible to make a stiffer stem by increasing its diameter, so what? Before explaining how important it is to transmit all your energy to the rear wheel, consider this. Generally, with aluminum, if it can flex appreciably, it will fail. Aluminum has low fatigue resistance. So, manufacturers engineer its application to minimize flex. Perhaps someone can flex it, but this is outside the normal range of use. Otherwise, they're facing warranty claims and lawsuits.

Dano, there are lots of opinions around the cracker barrel about why Hincapies steerer failed, contrary to your assertions. My point wasn't that a treadless stem was at fault. It was twofold (which you might have considered if not so emotional in your repsonse):1) racers live on the edge; 2) you can't win if your equipment fails. Taking that a step farther, if you're a racing, but aren't on the pro tour, you don't need to live on the edge. An extra few ounces won't hurt anything. So, as I said, weight and stiffness are red herrings.

One theory has it that in George's first crash he twisted his handlebars, that this put a score in aluminum steerer (bad materials choice for PR) creating a stress riser. He uses a King headset without a top split-ring washer. This allows a certain amount of motion, and in the context of the vibrations caused by the cobbles, lead to a fatigue failure at the stress riser. Pictures that I've seen of the failure tend to support this opinion.

But so what, you're still missing the point. Encourage people to ride, not to worry about what stem they're using.

I agree quill stems are on the way out. Not because they don't serve well, but because the audience for them has diminished to the point that they aren't generally profitable.

Cheers