beech333

I picked up a Reynolds 2-bolt I-beam stem about a year ago and went to use it on an old Hobbs that I am building up, but the stem confused me. I've seen some with slots at the bottom, but mine did not have any, despite the expander bolt and wedge.

Today, I notice a very similar looking one on Ebay, minus the expander bolt and wedge, but you can see the head of the bolt at the top. What were these intended for?

In my case, I plan to use it on a head-clip bike, though I may create my own slots at the bottom for additional support.

For anyone interested, this is what I am referring to.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23479134919...Bk9SR6il6t-bYQ

The below are snipped from the auction above.

juvela

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expander type -






clamp style type -


CENTRIX of France produced a similar appearing model -





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bluesteak 

I have a similar stem on my 51 Raleigh clubman which I bought already restored. Mine has an expander and a clamp. The clamp requires an extended steerer to work. Someone correct me if I am wrong, since I don’t recall ever taking mine apart.

beech333

I get that there are some without a bolt at all and they are intended to be clamped, but why are some that come with bolts entirely missing a slot to allow the stem to widen as an wedge/expander is tightened. The stems are usually pretty tall, so I have wondered if they were designed for users to cut to the needed length and add their own slots, but that is purely a guess.

nlerner

That’s a new one to me. I’ve had stems designed for headclips but they weren’t drilled for a bolt. The wedge is one of those conical units?

rhm

Those old GB girder stems are hard to find. I used to search eBay for them constantly, and i always got outbid on the few that came up.

The headclip style stem is not British Engineering at its best. It's a weird system, involving a Y-shaped(?) cut in the steerer that aligned with the clamp... and in my experience it didn't work very well. To be fair I've only used the stuff that was already 60 years old and probably worn out, maybe it worked better back in the day.
At any rate on my Fothergill i have a headclip and an expander wedge. By itself the headclip isn't reliable.

OP's stem is an odd one for sure, but who knows. I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed that way. How it got this way is a matter for speciation.

beech333

The ebay listing is not my stem. I have one that is similar and I thought it was a modification, but it did not show any signs of being cut shorter. Seeing another one, this just seems weird. I guess I will cut my own notch, then use it on my Hobbs, since I am also not thrilled with the headclip as the only source of support. .

oneclick 

I have an expander-type stem (GB something) in a headclip steerer, and yes I tighten them both:

1989Pre

The GB "girder" stem does have the expander slots at the bottom of the shaft.
If I were O.P., I'd think twice about purchasing the one in his post.

beech333

I already have one and have no desire to buy another. When I bought mine on Ebay, it showed the bolt at the top, but did not show that there were no slots at the bottom of the stem, so I assumed the bolt served a purpose.