Yeah, but Sheldon still had the threadless stem on there......

You're buddy is screwed if he wants up and down adjustment on the road. That's one drawback of the threadless system. Of course it's far superior since Most People like to adjust their headset preload on the road rather than bar height on the road. I've never met this Most People guy but apparently he has a really hard time keeping his headset adjusted.

Once upon a time I though the threadless system was an improvement - it IS easier to do the initial install - but have since realized it kinda sucks for your Average Joe after installation. You can save a couple of ounces having an aluminum or carbon steerer rather than steel and you get to do away with the locknut, but that's the only advantage against the big disadvantage of having very limited adjustability.

Another idea would be to get a new fork and leave the steerer high with spacers above and below the stem - or that collar like Sheldon had - then juggle them.

Chris