I have this very nice Grandis with old school Gatti stuff. I hate the stem, it does not fit me well. I was debating swapping out the stem for a gizmo to convert the quill style to a threadless 1/1/8 from1 inch.....IS that a bad choice for a vintage bike?
It is my beater weekender cruising bike nothing more than old eye candy, I do want to ride it as much as possible but the stem not a comfy fit.

I don't think it's a bad choice. I debated doing this and decided to keep the quill style just so my bike looks retro, but I'm also not having a problem with it being comfortable. You can find the quill style in many different lenghts to accommodate you. I don't know the advantages of the threadless are over the quill. I just think you could find a quill that would get you the same riding position of the threadless to make your ride more enjoyable and retain the look you want.

Have you tried some of the Nitto Technomic riser stems? You could probably get the bar position you're looking for while retaining a quill stem.

Very nice bike you have there!

Couple of questions.

Do you have neck, back, shoulder pain?

Too much weight on your hands?

I don't mind the look of a threadless stem but I don't like the look of those converter stems. Plus they are heavier than a standard quill so there is no benefit to it unless you want to use a modern handlebar.

Also you never mentioned what was uncomfortable about the original setup.

It's faux pas, pas being French for “step” (as well as homonym for “not”) -- false step. Personally, I'd use a Nitto Technomic (regular, not deluxe has a longer neck if you're trying to raise the bars higher), or a Nitto Dirtdrop (looks better to me for lots of stem “exposure,” but only available in one extension, about 8 cm). That said, you should do what you need to, to make the bike a good rider for yourself.

Quills can be had in nearly infinite variety of height and extension. If you want to go to a little extra effort you can find it. Of course you can make either work just fine. And plenty of uber-classic bikes used this type of stem natively (Singers, etc.). However, to my eye, the ahead-type adapter on a small-bore steerer bike looks awkward, like teenage boy who hasn't grown into his giant feet yet or something.

The Technomic is only $3 less than the Technomic Deluxe on the Rivendell site. It's ridiculously long, is not finished as well and is not cold forged. I want a tall stem to be as strong as they can make it. The cheaper version of the Dirtdrop is the Periscopa. There's a $16 difference in price and it's not cold forged either.

I hate the look of the threadless adapters, but that's just my opinion.

IMHO it doesn't look terribly bad if you tailor the adapter to the bike...

I'll come out and say it. Don't put an ugly threadless stem on that beautiful bike, it would look hateful. You have a lot of saddle to bar drop going on there, so I'm guessing that's the issue. A nitto technomic would serve the same purpose as an adaptor, and look a million times better. I would reckon you could even raise up your current stem a bit without hitting the limit.

devinfan said what I was thinking.

Thank you.

By the way, what were the rider's fit issues?

Sorry for the OT, but this is very eye-catching. What is it? Beautiful color too...