getting schooled as to what threadless really means
 

so i just got a soma rush and am building it from all new parts... well of course i didnt take into account the fork when buying my stem and headset. i felt like such a fool at the bike shop haha.

Oops. Now you need to know that there are two size standards of threadless forks. 1" and 1 1/8". Make sure you get a headset that is compatible with your frame/fork.

i knew about the different sizes and got the right size. i just didnt put much thought into what threadless meant.

get the fork threaded. quill stems rule.

Eh, everyone gets the wrong size part at some point, its happened to everyone, nothing to feel too stupid about, man. I've certainly done it before.

So you ordered the headset online and brought it to them to install? Were they pretty cool with that? I was going to tempted to try that here but don't want to irk my LBS anymore than I have too.

Just be cool about it and it shouldn't be a big deal. Say your mom/girlfriend/whoever got it for you for Christmas if you feel like you need to give them a line so everyone saves face.

yeah i was really siked on the quill stem, but oh well. does getting a non threaded fork threaded cause any damage? the dood at the bike shop is really cool. hooked me up with the new stem for 10 bucks. all in all it cost me 50 dollars for new headset(from the shop), stem, labor of cutting the fork and fitting the stem. the guy did the cutting and stem stuff on the spot in 10 minutes. its been getting a little less intense and intimidating with each visit.

I have that exact same bike. Rock!

If you keep the threadless, and want an awesome look, then get a 3ttt Mutant. They're probably the closest to a threaded-stem aesthetic you can get, if you can handle the drop. Don't worry about the colors, just buy the yellow, and get it stripped, polished and re-anodized for $40 at a local machine shop.

Another contender is a Cinelli Alter. The only ones left appear to be 120mm, but again, don't be afraid to get a crappy color and refinish.

I got a Thompson, mainly because I needed positive rise - the drop on the Mutant and Alter are too harsh for me.

Edit: Oh, I see you already made your choice. Enjoy the new bike. :)

yeah i cant wait to get this bike all done. i need a new wheelset and possibly new cranks/bb. im going to try and use my bb and cranks from this cannondale frame i have. i dont know much about the parts other than the bb is sugino and the cranks are shimano (starts with a 15.. something).

threading the fork doesn't cause any damage except permanently making the fork a threaded fork. if you think that's damage, Ok; I personally think it's an improvement.

yeah i personally wouldnt think that is damage either. one of my main reasons for doing that would be that the threadless stem and spacers(about 1 3/4 in. worth) are incredibly aesthetically unpleasing. im going to let it go for now and see if it grows on me

Sounds like you need one of these. 4cm spacer, one piece, really cleans up a tall stack height.

While you can do it, I'm not convinced that threading a threadless fork is a good thing, based soley on the experience of dokushoka who got Bernie Mikkelsen (very experienced frame builder), to turn his threadless fork into a threaded one.

Bernie ended up replacing the threadless steerer tube with a threaded one.

I can't remember the details, but Bernie doesn't mess about or do work needlessly. So I'm guessing that most threadless forks probably don't have sufficiently burly steerers for this to work safely. Not saying you can't but Bernie knows his stuff.

[Edit: just found the thread were its discussed]

Dokusha's reply to someone asking about why not just thread his threadless fork was

Personally I like threadless better, it's stiffer and easier to mess around with without setting yourself up for a nasty crash.

yeah, from everything i've read, threadless is superior in pretty much every way except the looks department.

too bad lots of us are suckas for aesthetics...

not every way. when i get my hypothetical touring bike, i'ma want it with a threaded setup, so that i can make changes to handlebar height based on mood and fatigue and passing countryside. all i'll have to do is stop and whip out an allen key.

that's the only functional advantage i can think of.

Threadless steerer tubes are thinner than threaded tubes -- since they don't take forces and torque the same way. If you need to get the fork threaded, do as fixedpip posted above and what Mikkelsen did: he chops off the steerer tube leaving an inch or two and welds a pre-threaded tube onto the remaining tube and cuts down the threads to get the desired length.

Personally, while my current bikes are all threaded, I loved threadless (which is definitely superior) when I had a Soma Rush a few years ago.

I had a Cinelli Alter on it (which stripped during a routine bar change at the track) followed by a Salsa SUL which is a pretty sexy threadless stem.

Here's what they looked like:

http://dcc.absenter.org/foto/misc/sophia-06.jpg

http://dcc.absenter.org/foto/misc/salsa_01.jpg

And yah, I love Salsa SUL stems. They pass my "can I kill a bear with it and ride away safely afterwards" test for bike parts.

Salsa are easily my favorite stems.

Then thomson, then the late great tioga t-bone.

The Nitto CT 80 in a sweet looking threadless stem - fillet brazed and nice finish, chromoly. Check out this link.

http://www.businesscycles.com/tstem-nitto.htm

yeah, but the handlebar is clamped in there, so that takes away being able to remove it with it with the tape or grips still on there.

on that same note, does there exist a quill stem that doesn't clamp, but has multiple bolts like most threadless stems? that's what i'd like.

There are a few out there. Profile design makes a cheap and ugly one. 3ttt made a quill version of the mutant, but they are next to impossible to find. If you can find one in 11cm, I'll trade you for a 13cm. I've seen a couple of others, but nothing very nice.

LARRY! hey buddy

You know, when I built my fixed, it was heavily inspired by that bike. I tried to get as close as possible to it - well, with road drops and a brake. Couldn't hang with the Alter - drop was far too much. Still, gorgeous bike.

hello stephen! hows it going?