Straight Quill Stem?
 

I've have my adjustable stem at a completely upright angle, but a simple, single piece design would be nice. I cobbled together this example:
http://i.imgur.com/pzyfR.png
Does such a product exist?

Not to my knowledge. Would be easy enough to make one, but aligment at assembly would be trickier. Can't really see the point though, apart from a few select occasions.
Unless you want to run a tight bend bar, you can use a short reach quill stem with a wraparound clamp. Like this one:
If you're able to track down a steel one from a cruiser/townie style bike, they basically only have enough reach to let the bar clear the stem. Like this one. But this particular sample had an odd bar size.
The shortest ones with a removable faceplate add maybe 20 mm to that. Like this one.

That last one would be perfect if it were available in North America. Apparently Raleigh UK, Canada, and USA are entirely separate entities who share none of the same parts. I found a couple similar ones though: the Sunlite TCO and TCO Piston.

I realize now why they don't make them as I pictured it. If the clamp weren't offset, where would the expander bolt go?

So, it's not really a straight stem I'm after, but rather one with the absolute minimum extension (+ a removable faceplate).

It would be an odd part with very few applications, thus expensive. Hiding the expander bolt flush below the bar space is possible. Finding buyers is the problem.

sound to me like your bike is too big/long.

That was my first thought as well. Headtube too long.

Well, at least in your Photo Shop example, you have a removable face plate on the bar clamp..
so the quill wedge bolt could in theory be tightened first ,
then the bar clamp re assembled around the handlebar.

You would need to build an assembly Jig first to hold the parts in allignment,
that being done , the actual welding could even be automated to make thousands of them.




note : Thor Who posts in folding bikes thread , because he sells them,
has an adjustable stem accessory [made by TW's Zoom company]
2 1 inch clamps, double ended, and a piece a to replace the handlebar with a short plug.

the "aberhallo" can be adjusted and be above , and a bit behind the bar clamp in the original stem,
so would shorten that already short stem .. ..[in #2]

just saying .. :innocent:

It is pretty huge, but that seems to be what Electra is going for with the Townie. I just picked this one up second hand, and it's a good fit except for the handlebars being too far out. Setting the adjustable stem fully upright solves that, but makes them higher than I'd like. I'd rather ditch the adjustable stem anyway, provided I can find an alternative that keeps the handlebars as close.

It'd be more of a hassle come time to make adjustments, but I'm sure the design would find it's niche.

I hope someone does... They'll have at least one guaranteed customer right here.

This Aber Hallo? It's a more complex part than I'd need considering I'll never be quick-releasing my handlebars (that is its primary purpose, right?), but it would do the trick.

I would go with a stem with 20mm reach and some bars with more back sweep... in addition to frame building we do a lot of one off custom work and fabricate things that are impossible to buy or make replacements for prohibitively expensive vintage parts.

A one off custom stem would cost many times more than what a mass produced version would cost... but it is one of those things that is not well suited to mass production as there is such little market demand.

Perhaps "Bob Brown" can make you a custom stems as Sixty Fiver hinted at? However I wouldn't know the pricing. Look him up in Google...he has a website, BLOG and contacts...he's a framebuilder and custom bicycle builder actually - makes gorgeous stuff. Love looking at his photos of his work.

=8-)

It would be pretty easy to build... some of the first work I did at the frame shop was building custom stems and this is much like the design we use for many stoker stems that integrate into frames and have an external clamping system.

The expansion bolt could be fitted with the wedge and tension bolt at the bottom of the stem and one would tighten / adjust it from the bottom of the steerer instead of the top.

the QR is part of the Bike , ... not part of the Aberhallo ,
it is just 3 parts
the plug that you put in your stem , instead of the handlebar ,
and the 2 double clamps.
you grip your handlebar with the 2 double clamps .

Wow! Had no idea such a stem existed. Looks like a more reliable design than adjustable stem folks use on their "comfort" bike nowadays...

Gonna see if a shop I distribute wheels at is aware of the Aber Hallo...

=8-)

That's probably what I'll end up doing. Those 40mm ones above are the shortest quill stems I've found, although I could get a really short threadless stem and a quill adapter.

Right, I figured that out eventually. It's a pretty cool system. That, with a short stem might do it.

...

Found some interesting info in this thread. Apparently there was once the Azonic O Stem:

http://i.imgur.com/92o5T.jpg http://i.imgur.com/VNC5h.jpg

Would love to have one of those.

A better approach to improving the reach on your bike may be to change the handlebars. Nitto has many elegant options including the Albatross, Dove, and Promenade, all commonly available yet sort of expensive. Velo-Orange on the other hand has similar bars all viewable here that are priced very reasonably. Combining a short stem around 40 or 60mm with swept-back like these should afford you the shorter reach that you seek.

Of course, if you want the best help, it would be swell if you would provide general information like your height flexibility range, and perhaps a picture of your bike to give a better idea of what you need. Best of Luck!

Cheers
lverhagen