Perhaps a silly question - when installing bars...
09-09-08 | 02:51 PM
#1
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Perhaps a silly question - when installing bars...
When installing bars on old aluminum stems....(with out removeable faceplates) what's the trick
to get the bars through there with out scratching them up? I'm a bit worried to pry open the stem.
Doesn't aluminum fatigue or risk cracking when you do that ? Any tricks of the trade ?
09-09-08 | 04:27 PM
#6
some new kind of kick
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,542
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From: Smog Valley
Bikes: SOMA Rush, Miyata 912, Kogswell Mod. G, want a porteur bike
like said above make sure you have the right size--
I wouldn't mix 26.0 bars with 25.4 stem for example--
some do but if that **** cracks then you will too.
Nitto makes a tool for spreading the stem temporarily
to let you slide it in. I use a large blunt wood chisel.
Wedge it into the gap where the stem opens for the bolt
with the bolt out and GENTLY pry just a smidge. You only
need a few mm of clearance. Bars go right in.
Another trick on some stems is that if both sides of the
stem around the bolt hole are threaded then unthread
the allen bolt until the end is in the opening between the
two sides of the stem. Then put a penny or another coin
over the hole--thread the bolt back in. Because it can't
thread into the hole and tighten it has the opposite effect--
it forces the stem open slightly.
Don't force anything too much, if it is too hard you may have the wrong
sizes. I had a shop once sell me an old triple T stem that was the
wrong size because it was NOS and they didn't really know what it was.
I wouldn't mix 26.0 bars with 25.4 stem for example--
some do but if that **** cracks then you will too.
Nitto makes a tool for spreading the stem temporarily
to let you slide it in. I use a large blunt wood chisel.
Wedge it into the gap where the stem opens for the bolt
with the bolt out and GENTLY pry just a smidge. You only
need a few mm of clearance. Bars go right in.
Another trick on some stems is that if both sides of the
stem around the bolt hole are threaded then unthread
the allen bolt until the end is in the opening between the
two sides of the stem. Then put a penny or another coin
over the hole--thread the bolt back in. Because it can't
thread into the hole and tighten it has the opposite effect--
it forces the stem open slightly.
Don't force anything too much, if it is too hard you may have the wrong
sizes. I had a shop once sell me an old triple T stem that was the
wrong size because it was NOS and they didn't really know what it was.
Last edited by Suttree; 09-09-08 at 05:03 PM.
09-09-08 | 04:55 PM
#9
takin' it to the streets
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From: Denv-arrrgghhh
Bikes: 1999 Kona Kapu; late 70's/early 80's Araya road bike/commuter bike.
Just had this problem.
I used a vice grip. Get covers for the grip itself so it doesn't mar it up. Put the stem in sideways, and use a large standard screwdriver to pry the ******* open. Once you get it on and realize that you pried it open too much, use the vicegrip to close it back up!
It helped me get a set of ergo road bars through a non faceplate quill stem.
I'm not sure how safe this is. Any input on that?
I used a vice grip. Get covers for the grip itself so it doesn't mar it up. Put the stem in sideways, and use a large standard screwdriver to pry the ******* open. Once you get it on and realize that you pried it open too much, use the vicegrip to close it back up!
It helped me get a set of ergo road bars through a non faceplate quill stem.
I'm not sure how safe this is. Any input on that?
09-09-08 | 04:59 PM
#11
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 40,863
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From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
But seriously folks, I've used both the coin trick and a chisel, as K-V describes. Both methods work well. Remember that you want to bend the stem as little as possible to still allow you to get the bars in.
09-09-08 | 05:16 PM
#14
FNG
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From: Toronto, ON
Bikes: 2008 IRO Angus, 2008 Jamis Exile 29er
09-09-08 | 05:19 PM
#15
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From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
09-09-08 | 05:27 PM
#16
some new kind of kick
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,542
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From: Smog Valley
Bikes: SOMA Rush, Miyata 912, Kogswell Mod. G, want a porteur bike
09-09-08 | 05:46 PM
#17
Banned.
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From: on the moon
Bikes: Cinelli Mash
09-09-08 | 09:20 PM
#18
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From: Minneapolis!
Bikes: 2005 Surly Steamroller, 2003 Surly Pacer, 2009 Surly LHT, 2010 Surly LHT, 2007 Surly CrossCheck, 1988 Schwinn Prologue
Why not just use the right tool instead of f***ing up your stem with a screwdriver then trying to fix it with vice grips??
09-10-08 | 03:56 PM
#19
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Well, it took alot longer than I thought, but I finally got them out. greased them up, and used a
small wooden wedge to open it up just a bit. I was suprised at how much I had to rotate/move them around to get them out.....now if I can just get them back in there without scratching my buffing job.
Thanks fellas
small wooden wedge to open it up just a bit. I was suprised at how much I had to rotate/move them around to get them out.....now if I can just get them back in there without scratching my buffing job.
Thanks fellas
09-10-08 | 06:29 PM
#22
BRILLIANT!!
__________________
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
09-10-08 | 06:52 PM
#23
some new kind of kick
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,542
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From: Smog Valley
Bikes: SOMA Rush, Miyata 912, Kogswell Mod. G, want a porteur bike
doesn't he mean to wrap the bars to protect them--i.e. the portion of the bars
other than the clamp area--the part you want to stay shiny?
other than the clamp area--the part you want to stay shiny?
09-11-08 | 03:38 AM
#24
Finnish Aussie
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From: Helsinki, Finland
09-11-08 | 08:27 AM
#25
takin' it to the streets
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Denv-arrrgghhh
Bikes: 1999 Kona Kapu; late 70's/early 80's Araya road bike/commuter bike.
What's the name of that tool? I'd be happy to follow that advice, but when all I get is a picture...well that's not the most specific thing ever.
