Originally Posted by
patrick.decker@
I've been having an issue with the stock stem, I can tighten it down (real tight) and with my feet holding the wheel I can still turn the bars (and not with a whole lot of force) As the steerer tube, wedge, threads etc, all seem to be fine, it was suggested that perhaps it's a sizing issue. When I investigated I found that indeed there is some play. That is, the stem has some lateral play when un-tightened. So I'm wondering if this might actually be the problem. It seems unlikely, but I've run out of ideas. so I'm curious if anyone knows if there stem has any lateral play inside the steerer tube??
Take it to a shop. The same thing happened to me when I was putting mine together from the box. The guy fixed it within a couple of minutes (free of charge too, but I'd expect to pay a few bucks). He wasn't sure what was wrong with it, but after a few tries he was able to get it right. He said the stem wasn't "catching" the steering tube so it seemed like there was some play but he was able to fix it. I've had no problems since.