matimeo

I have a frozen stem on my bike that I can't get loose. I've tried ammonia, super penetrating lubes, etc. I also knocked the wedge out, but it isn't budging. I finally decided to stop messing with it since it didn't seem like it was going anywhere anyway, and it was at the height I wanted anyway. I'm planning on riding it as is with no hardware holding the stem to the steerer tube. How dangerous does this sound, and has anyone else ever done it and regretted it?

DMF 

Murphy's Law: It will come loose at the worst possible time.


Like when you're about to win Paris-Roubaix.

mcoomer

You are definitely going to die! Tighten that thing back down before you ride.

C_LOGAN

Just cut it off and buy a new fork + head.

Or just put the wedge back in? What is difficult about putting the wedge in and tightening it up properly? Ofcourse no one here can say if it will ever come loose, but if it does and you are riding then you are going to be in a little bit of trouble.

Better safe than sorry.

DMF 

That's actually Finagle's Corollary to Murphy's Law:

Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment.

bac

Isn't that George "Murphy" Hincapie's law?

... Brad

matimeo

I can't really tighten it back on because I knocked the wedge out when I was trying to get the stem loose and it's lying in the bottom of the steerer tube. I guess I could hold it upside down and try to bang it back in from underneath and then screw it back on. I had really thought that this wouldn't be a problem, but I get the sense that I could be setting myself up for disaster. I just figured if it wouldn't come out with brute force or ammonia, there was no way in heck it was going to come loose from riding- but I'm probably wrong.

well biked

I had an aluminum quill stem stuck recently in a steel frame, I used an oak dowel sized just smaller than the inside diameter of the steerer tube, turned everything upside down and drove the dowel with a hammer to break the stem loose. Some cases are worse than others, of course, so it probably wouldn't work every time, but it might be worth a shot-

matimeo

How did you hold the bike in place while you were doing said pounding?

well biked

I had the assistance of my teenaged son, I put the saddle on something elevated (maybe an ice chest, I don't remember) and had my son help me hold the frame steady as I drove the dowel against the bottom of the stem. Like I said, it may not work in every case, but I had soaked this one, tried to twist it out from the top, etc. to no avail. Picked up the oak dowel at Home Depot and it worked like a charm-

matimeo

I just went out and was able to pound the wedge back down and screwed it in. The height it fine, so I'm just going to leave it where it is. I'm glad I posted so I could think through this and not do something really stupid. At least I was able to put some grease on the bearings- which was all I really wanted to do anyway.