So after years of looking I got a great deal on this spiffy '86 Schwinn Peloton with a threaded fork and I'd like to put a white, non-quill/non-threaded white stem on her.

Since I got the frame for a song, cheap is not a priority. However, it's a Sherman tank of a frame, so a lightweight option would be appreciated.

Am I stuck getting a quill adaptor like this?:


If so, what's the lightest/stiffest option available? If not, what other lightweight/stiff options are there?
Mille grazzi and safe riding!

If all you want is a white stem, maybe have the existing stem powder-coated?

Otherwise I would think that adapter would be the only option.

Thanks Corky.
It's not just the white stem I want, but also a more modern handlebar and want the stiffness & adjustability of a threadless stem.
I bought the frame on Ebay with no stem (or headset), and I'm decking out the rest of the bike with modern, 7800 components.

Is there a headset that bridges the gap between threaded fork and threadless stem? I'm a big fan of fewer fasteners and simplicity.

It's such a beautiful bike...

There's no headset that will allow you to use a threadless stem. You could swap forks (and headset) to threadless and go that way. But to keep the fork, I think you have to use the adapter. The adapter probably gets rid of any weight/stiffness advantage anyway (not sure what 'adjustability' advantage threadless has.). I'd just go with a good quill stem, but the adapter will work.

Unless you're planning on using super glue, yes you'll have to do the crappy adapter thing.

[QUOTE=calamarichris;10353464]Thanks Corky.
It's not just the white stem I want, but also a more modern handlebar and want the stiffness & adjustability of a threadless stem.
I bought the frame on Ebay with no stem (or headset), and I'm decking out the rest of the bike with modern, 7800 components.

Is there a headset that bridges the gap between threaded fork and threadless stem? I'm a big fan of fewer fasteners and simplicity.

It's such a beautiful bike... QUOTE]

I am not sure I am getting the weight issue. If its a "sherman tank of a frame" saving a few grams on stem is not going to make any noticeable difference. Also, quill stems afford more, not less, height adjustability than threadless and, as has been pointed out, use of adaptor will eliminate any benefit you get from going threadless. Also, if you look at the picture you attached, part of the reason its a "beautiful bike" is the sleek lines of that quill stem in the picture. Quills just look right to my eye on the older frames. So I say Quill is the best option unless you want to go with a more recent vintage fork with a threadless steerer; and there is no reason you can't use modern handlebar as long as you get stem and handlebar in correct dimensions.

+10 A quill stem is part of the total look of the bike. If you want threadless, then you either use the adapter or buy a new fork, headset, etc.

Many thanks for the guidance, gents!
I know it's illogical to want a titanium turret on an iron tank, but this is an emotion-based choice and the quill stem has nothing to do with the sleek lines/beauty IMO. Apologies for any offended C&V sensibilities.
I've got a Nitto quill & bars on my beloved Masi, and it's a serious step up from the noodly old Cinelli in terms of stiffness, but still nowhere near as stiff (or as light) as the lower-end bar-stem on my Felt F55.
Bummed to hear the adaptor is the only solution, but my question is answered and I learned something new today, so thanks very much!

Last questions: does anyone make a lighter/stiffer adaptor?
Weight wienies shows the Cinelli quill adaptor as 75g--anyone have any experience with them?

As noted, aesthetically, a modern cockpit just does not look right on a nice old lugged frame with with a skinny 1" head tube. I would definitely stick with a quilled stem.

Aesthetics are funny things. I've been a motorcyclist for much of my adult life and most riders choose a motorcycle based on magazine pictures. I see 350++ pound guys riding around on wee, little Ducatis which were made for little-bitty Italian blokes, and inevitably there are also dainty little walking-Adam's-Apples riding around on thunderous Harleys.

As silly or wrong as it looks, a two-wheelers job is to make its rider happy.

Any guidance on the adaptors would be much appreciated.

Besides the desire to put a threadless stem on it, in reading through the thread I see that you've used the description "a sherman tank of a frame," and used the term "iron tank" in an analogy.

The 1986 Schwinn Peloton is a nice bike, built with nice frame tubing.

If there were such a thing as a Schwinn Nazi, he would say to you:

"No Schwinn for you!!!.....Next!!!"

Get a clue.

What a clever Seinfeld allusion. You must spend a lot of your time watching mediocre television and memorizing tired banalities.
I intended no disrespect toward the Schwinn's ferrousity. (Yes, I know it's not in Websters.) The '86 Peloton was my first 'real' bike, and despite many crashes as a USCF junior and spending most of my teen years with beef-jerky scabs on my legs, I was never able to knock that frame untrue--that was all I saying.

Any guidance on the adaptors would be much appreciated.

Nitto adapters are nice. You won't get anything as stiff as a threadless setup no matter what.

Thank you.

Seriously, I came across as I did because folks who frequent this forum are generally pretty passionate about bicycles, myself included; and when you're passionate about something, strong opinions develop. Some of the stuff you've posted in this thread is offensive to my sensibilities, and to be honest, seems pretty clueless. But that's just my opinion, and maybe I've misinterpreted what you're really saying, I don't know.

Regardless, it's your bike of course. Do what you like.

As far as advice on going threadless on that bike: nope, not gonna go there.

Thank you Kevin. Ridicule is fun and all, but I was looking for hard data (or at least empirical observations on the hardware) like yours.
***Those with C&V sensibilities tender enough to dictate what others put on their bicycle should stop reading now. There, you've been warned.***

When you say, "threadless setup", do you mean with a threadless fork as well?

In your opinion, is a threadless stem (with adaptor) less stiff than a Nitto Technomic quill stem?

If so, what's the stiffest quill stem/bar combination available presently? (Money is no object. I'd even consider paying Cyclart a powermeter's ransom to braze a threadless tube onto that sexy, sexy fork crown.)

I meant with a threadless fork as well. I imagine most of the benefit comes from the direct interface and the tubular nature of the stem extension vs. the tube crammed in another tube aspect of the quill stem. They move around more than some people think. I haven't used a quill-to-threadless adapter for very long, but it certainly didn't feel super flexy like, for instance, a 3ttt Synthesis, which is the stem on my road bike. Just not as stiff as a threadless fork and stem.

The Technomic isn't very stiff, sure is tall though, and that's why it's most useful. Dynamics are shorter, stiffer.

The stiffest quill stems in my experience are the lovely (or hideous) chrome plated steel stems from the 90s. I saw this as a drawback at the time, but you might consider it a feature.

Why are you worried about weight? Remember, there is often an inverse relationship between weight and stiffness, which may account for why you find the low-end bar/stem on your Felt55 to be so stiff.

If you want the modern cockpit on that bike, go for it and don't worry about the few extra grams an adapter may impose. Just empty your bladder or leave your iPod at home before you ride and you'll save more weight that way.

I would think a Nitto technomic would be stiffer than using an adapter + threadless stem. There simply is just less parts to deal with in the equation. With that - how is a threadless setup simpler than a quill stem? They certainly aren't as easy to adjust.

On the bike being a sherman tank - from what I understand about the Schwinn Peloton, I imagine it to be light years away from Schwinn's actual sherman tanks. *cough Varsitys cough*

I have a nitto technomic (the 110) sitting at home waiting for me to un-box it. If its half of what I expect it to be it will be amazing.

Excellent info, thanks!
Except my Technomic feels considerably stiffer than my old Cinelli, which I assumed was because the tube-in-the-tube was inserted so much deeper. (My Cinelli was raised up to the [max] line and therefore had less than two inches to grapple the inside of the fork tube.)


And thanks John D., but I'm already purging my bowels, bladder, nasal passages, seminal vesicles and a few pints of blood to make up for the steel frame.

[QUOTE=calamarichris;10357392]***Those with C&V sensibilities tender enough to dictate what others put on their bicycle should stop reading now. There, you've been warned.***

You should absolutely put whatever you want on the bike, my C&V sensibilities will remain unassaulted, and I meant no ridicule when I said I liked the look of a quill, just that I failed to see that a threadless offered the improvements you seemed to be interested in. To be honest, this whole thread from top to bottom doesn't make any sense (but maybe it just me). You want a threadless stem, go for it. You disagree that quill is prettier on the bike, thats fine too, a subjective issue. But, while recognizing that your desire is in some way not explainable by logic, you seem bent on rationalizing it via logical discussions of improved weight and stiffness, yet then seemingly argue the converse, that such considerations are beside the point because you just want what you want (which, again, is fine). But if you believe that threadless stem on that frame/fork offers some significant improvement in stifness or whatever, simply not true in this application (atop a relatively flexy and relatively heavy frame). But, as you say, what makes you happy is the important thing.

and my 1986 Schwinn Paramount is way cooler than your 1986 Schwinn Peloton

I am always so grateful for the good advice and opinions I get on this particular forum. I mean, people go out of their way to come up with helpful, sometimes far-out solutions. They don't have to share their experience-both professional and amateur-but they do.

So I get chapped when someone asks for advice, but really has their mind made up and then insults people for offering their opinion. I could have a solution for you, but like Well-biked, I'm not gonna go there.

Rant over.

Those Cinelli 1/Rs were notoriously flexible, probably as result of the hidden clamp mechanism being less effective than the traditional external clamp. The Cinelli 1/A is much more solid.

You won't save enough weight in the stem to make up that difference. Just ride and enjoy it!

I am utterly grateful too, and I apologize if I sounded defensive or combative. I was asking for one thing (options on mating a threadless stem to a threaded fork), but several people offered something else, (That looks wrong. Don't do it.) And I didn't insult anyone who didn't insult me first. (No Schwinn for you... Get a clue.)

Thanks again JohnD--you are the man! I'll get a threadless/modern bar & stem first, and then later try a Technomic or a 1/A later to see if it feels good. I concede that my stiffness paranoia might be because of my experience with that 1/R--that thing felt like angelhair pasta that got left in the water overnight.

Paz y amor, hermanos cosmicos!
(Peace & love, cosmic brothers.)

...

I know, but in keeping with my love of vintage bikes, my photography capability has not gone digital -- I'm still using film and h'copy prints. So you'll just have to take my word for it. That said, except for the red and white pedals, which kinda clash with the blue frame, I am fairly sure that sweet Masi of yours is at least as cool as my Paramount (as long a you keep the cinelli quill stem :-))