I know this topic has been posted before. A few weeks ago I saw a pic of some kind of vintage bike, possibly euro in origin, with a very sleek threadless stem with around 1" of spacer under it. It looked like it was attached directly to a 1" steerer and the spacer was not integrated. I'm pretty sure I saw it on bikeforums. Anyone remember this? Couldn't find it in the search.

I remember it too.

https://www.google.com.mx/search?q=t..._sm=0&ie=UTF-8

Well, this may not be what you were looking for, but here's my threadless stem, which I consider elegant. It was built this year by Jeff Lyon to my design, to match the frame he made for me last year. I liked the frame so much, it made me wince to stick a stock stem on it. (Tip for anyone considering a custom frame: talk with your frame builder about a custom stem at the same time). It's a 1" stem, and all stock stems these days are built for 9/8" steerers, thus needing a shim to work with 1" steerers. A 1" stem doesn't look as bulky. I hemmed and hawed over going quill or threadless, but in the end, I prefer threadless for modern builds.



Here's the stem up close. The cap sticking up from the top of the stem is actually a switch for the generator lighting system. I co-designed it with Tom Matchak, a frame builder in NH, and we will be selling them shortly:

Reminds me I need to stock up on Cinelli stems threaded ones that is.

Southpaw, sweet switch design!

A big improvement compared to most other threadless stems with the smoothed out, blended welds, but it's the upward angle (90 degrees to the steerer tube) of the neck to the bar clamp that still makes them less than pretty looking to me.....

Until I saw Southpaw's, I didn't think the elegant ones existed, but NAHBS usually has some real beauties.

I'll certainly be a customer down the road.

Elegant, clever and full of utility.

Smart design.

From Eric Estlund's flickr.

Winter Bikes!



Follow the link for more beauties.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22538785@N05/

As far as mass produced stems, I have a couple of old Trek System 3 stems that I like. I wouldn't go so far as to call them elegant, but they're a lot nicer looking than much of the other stuff I've seen recently.

Not my picture, but looks a lot like mine.

Best one I have seen by far!

'Elegant' is of course a matter of opinion, but price is quantifiable. This one ain't cheap:

When upgrading my Cyclops, I decided to go threadless. Sadly, this stem adapter and threadless stem are less than "elegant"...



I am planning on putting the old goose neck back, along with a set of appropriate bars. The stem and adaptor will be up for grabs, when I do so.

If you don't mind spending $300+, a lot of custom bike frame builders also make stems, which can be painted to match your frame and built to any rise or reach.

One of the nicest looking threadless stems was the old Salsa SUL, which is now out of production. It was made from steel tubing that was not oversized, so it matched well with steel lugged frames. You can still buy them used on eBay, but I would caution against that because Salsa conducted a massive recall on these stems because some of them were prone to breaking. They have information about the recall on their website, along with the product codes to avoid. One of my local bike shops had one that was the perfect rise/reach for my bike but wouldn't sell it to me -- and I wouldn't have bought -- after we checked the code and it was part of the recall.

Soma Cycles has a nice selection of stems for sale on the web store, including various Nitto models that are hard to fine. They are expensive, but generally about half the price of a custom stem. You can't beat Nitto for quality, and could be a good option if you are looking for a silver stem.

Threadless Stems

I have visited another website for a company that sells a nice selection of quality threadless stems in black and silver, in various rises and reaches. I can't seem to find a link but will post if I find it later. It seems like their stems sold for about $100. They were made from tubing that was as clunk and thick as the typical threadless stem. Perhaps another forumite is familiar with the company.

This is one of the nicest looking bicycles that I have seen. The color and simple presentation are perfect (might rethink the water bottles, though)...



I am truly impressed and I love the steering stem. If I had something like that on my Cyclops, I just might keep it threadless.

I just thought of it. I have a set of vintage (seventies something, I think) Showa matching front and rear alloy luggage racks. They would suit the bicycle to a "T" in my opinion.

I like this one...and...I do believe it has a bit of elegance...

Also...one thing on some of the other elegant ones...if they do not have a "bolt on" side for the handlebar clamp...it loses a lot of function in my opinion...

custom made / circa 1980 by Ross Shafer (pre Salsa)
matched to frame paint in Imron

Thank you, Randy. The bike was designed for a front load only, so no braze-on accommodations for a rear rack.

Not to derail this thread from stems, but to keep on the topic of "elegance", since that photo was taken, I've upgraded my taillight to a modern interpretation of a classic, elegant taillight. I've designed my own generator-powered taillight and made a small production run of CNC milled housings (half of which have a brushed aluminum finish, and half of which are polished to a mirror shine). I assemble them all by hand using state of the art circuitry, and will also be offering these for sale along with the stem switch. Here's how it looks on two different alloy fenders:





And I totally agree with others, the Rene Herse stem rises to the top in terms of elegance. From what I understand, it is very light and rigid, too. Very smart design.

I think the Velo Orange tall stack stem is about the nicest off-the-shelf threadless stem I've seen:

VO Tall-Stack Stem 31.8, 1-1/8" - Threadless Stems - Stems - Components

Soma makes a similar one. I really hoped to get one of these to work on my Surly Cross Check but I needed something with a rise to get the bars up.

Some of this stuff is too cool for me, but the light switch that can easily be turned on quickly with a gloved hand is great.
The Herse stem, if that is original or not, does perhaps take craftsmanship/design elegance to some new level, truly over the top.

The blue bike, man that's a beauty, and those bars, what I would call a Brampton or Brompton(?) bend, is one of my favorites. I might even fit that bike, looks like I could even use a horizontal extension on it that some would find more proper, but some really slick custom stems have been made over the years that, in the interest of mechanical efficiency, made a straight line from the top of the headset to the handlebar, horizontality be damned, a straight line being the most efficient structure in this case.

I bought a Klein from 1999 yesterday, with a Salsa road stem that I'm wondering about.
It's TIG welded, with about a plus-60-degree rise. Might it be custom?

BTW, the early Ross Shaefer bikes were named Red Bush, pre-Salsa.

Not technically "threadless", but Alex Singer made some elegant clamp-on stems:



From: Alex Singer 1947 lightweight