"dimpled" threaded steerer, ride or replace?
 

... or rather "crescented" if such a word exists and/or makes sense...


Hi all,


I swapped out the quill stem on my old Bianchi 838 for a threadless adapter recently.
Wanted easier adjustable stem length.


As a thanks, the bike near instantly developed the most amazing creaking when riding standing.


The threadless adapter apparently didn't sit exactly as the old stem.


When I pulled the stem, I noticed 2-3 Crescent shaped indentations about roughly below the headset.
(the steerer tube clearly bulges outward below the headset)
My guess is that someome has:
1) put a stem unwisely high up
2) given it a massive dose of torque, causing the wedge on the quill to expand the steerer.


Now, I know I'm not responsible for this damage, so the bike has probably seen years and miles of use in this condition.


Still, riding on a known defect is more unsettling than riding on unknown defects.


The 838 was a fairly decent bike in its day.
I have an all-chrome fork of unknown origin that'd fit.
Would it be wise to swap it in?


Has anyone seen similar damage?


Wedges in the threaded section isn't that uncommon. Forks inteneded as replacement forks can have very long threaded sections.
Might the threads have been cut too deep, causing excessive weakening of the steerer?


Rotating the adapter eliminated the creaking.

I would try to quiet the noise with grease and keep using the fork.