I'm going to be 60 this year and would like to get to a more upright position on my Merckx. I tried searching but didn't know how to ask my question so thought I'd post for information and/or wording to search.

My bike is from the mid 90's and I've had it for nearly 20 years, it has the original Cinelli stem and bars which are a little too low for my current needs. I was thinking of getting the adapter which converts from 1" to 1 1/8' and can use the Aheadset style stem.

Questions are:
What do you call the adapter/extension that fits into the threaded headset?
What has been the experience of folks on the forum using this option?

Thanks in advance!

Origin8 1-1/8" Threaded to 1-1/8" Threadless Quill Stem Adapter
[h=1]Threadless Quill Stem Adapter[/h]


I currently have one on my Nishiki because I got bored and wanted to try it out. Haven't had any rides with it so far, but on a cosmetic level, it doesn't look right.

What about a trying out a Nitto Technomic stem? It's actually taller than my threadless quill stem adapter.

I put a VO adapter and stem on my 76 Motobecane and like it a lot...

VO Stem Adapter and Stem by FatSwede, on Flickr

Works great. May look a bit off, depending on the bike, the height one sets the adapter, and the chosen stem...etc.

I put one of these rigs on my Proctor (a nice 80s road bike) mainly because I had the parts handy at the time of the build, and to facilitate playing with fit a bit (I wasn't sure exactly what would be most comfortable, as the bike has an unusually long TT). In the end, I've left the quill adapter setup on there for some time. As I said, works great. I'll probably switch over to a quill at some point...when I've got nothing else to do.

I do use a zero degree stem on there to get some rise without having the adapter protrude too much above the top of the HS, though I'm not getting the bars much higher than I could with a traditional quill stem with the current setup (though I could, of course).

It's a viable solution. If the aesthetics bother you, it's always possible to experiment with a Technomic, or with a zero-degree stem or something with rise (perhaps a nice Ritchey Force or something along those lines...)

I have used older 1" quill type MTB stems and bars with 1" clamping to get the bars up level with the saddle on several smaller frame bikes.

Such as:

these are going to get the bars much higher High Rider Stem Adapter 28.6/22.2 | SOMA Fabrications

Accept your classic road bike wont look 'right' anymore.

I did the adapter thing on my Cyclops. Works great but looks a wee bit odd, in my opinion...

Me too. I did it and thought the top front looked overly heavy. I didin't like anything about the change.

I need to go looking for new stem. Black does not do it with the quill adapter and my CV vibe:



I've seen some adapters that are tapered on the bottom of the stem. This helps with the visual transition from a thick modern threadless stem to the narrow quill adapter.

The problem with a modern threadless stem on a vintage bike is you'll still need a stem riser to get the bars up high enough.... and you can solve a too low stem problem with a Nitto Technomic or Nitto Dirt Drop.

I find myself wishing that Nitto made threadless versions of their high rise quill stems because they're elegant back savers!

I'm not seeing how a threadless stem is going to help the OP with his problem. They don't seem to bring the bars up that much higher than a quill stem.

How about changing the stem to something shorter like a 90mm to bring the bars closer, and change those deep drop bars to something with a shallower drop? The seat looks awfully high to. Maybe you can bring that down some? The problem here just might be the fit of the bike with the these components and set-up. Maybe a good LBS could help you get a better fit and make you more comfortable

I think that a Nitto Technomic would be a much less hideous solution.