i just recently bought a Surly Steamroller (with a 1-1/8" fork), which has the first threadless fork i have ever had. I bought a new stem that has a better rise/reach for me and it looked to me like it would be a super-simple swap out job. I removed the star bolt and placed the new stem on the fork. I tried tightening down the hex bolts on the stem itself and then tightened the star bolt to add the cover.

Somehow, the stem doesn't seem to be tightened down tight enough on the fork. Are you not supposed to be able to move (rotate) the spacers around the steerer tube? Does that confirm that the stem isnt putting enough downward force on the spacers/headset cups?



I then went on to try to swap out the handlebars into the new faceplate, and although the brochure that came with the stem says it can accomodate my bar diameter, i am not able to get the faceplate to tighten down to close the gap between the plate and the stem. Is this normal? Do any other Mutant Stem owners have the same issue? I was kinda ok with this, until i tried to put weight on the handlebars, and they began to rock downwards. I've attached some pictures from above and below the stem to demonstrate this gap.





I guess i have two questions. #1) Is there an order to which you are supposed to tighten the stem bolts, star bolt when installing a new stem? Do you need to push down with alot of force to get everything pretty tight? Is there a tool/technique that can help with this? Rubber Mallet? I dont wanna **** up the stem's paint job.



#2) Is there a way to secure bars in this type of stem/faceplate? I almost stripped the hex bolt trying to tighten it all together. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sorry can't help you on that one but i just wanna know what stem that is?
cheers

3T Mutant stem. 100mm.

use tape

You're assembling the stem in the wrong order.
Place the spacers and the stem loosely on the steerer. Make sure there the steerer ends about 3mm below the stem or top spacer (whichever is on top ) so the top cap pushes on the stem/spacers and not the steerer.
Use the bolt through the top cap and the star nut to set the headset preload ( so there's no play in the headset but it turns smoothly ). Tighten stem bolts to retain steerer. As for the bars in the stem, its normal to have a small gap between the plate and the stem. Check that your bar clamp diameter is the same as the stem.

1.The topbolt going into the starnut get's tightened first.That sets the pressure on the bearings.Tight enough not to have play in your headset,but not so tight that it binds.Then you tighten the stembolts.
2.A little gap between the faceplate and stem is normal.From the pictures it looks like the clamparea on your handlebars is kinda worn down.I had a similar problem with old flop n' chops(that's what your bars are,right?).Once the knurling is worn down it's hard to get the bars to stay put.

thanks for the tip regarding the starbolt first. perhaps that's what's screwing it up. as far as you can tell, are the spacers not supposed to be able to move once the stem is tightened down?

Yeah, the bars are flip and chops. I have used them on all sorts of bikes and stems and never really had a problem, but yeah, maybe they are worn down and/or not providing the right type of surface to hold them still in the new/smooth faceplate.

****, these are my favorite bars. nice and narrow (38cm) and cut just the way i like. Any ideas for saving these/making them snug?

Thanks for your help.

try wrapping some electrical tape on the bar where is meets the stem clamp?

Here is how to install and adjust threadless headsets in better detail than I care to type.
https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=65

Don't use tape. Use a metal shim or something that will not compress and cause slippage over prolonged use. Beer cans work great.

I've got a 3t mutant, and the top cap that it came with sits in the stem more on mine. Yours looks like it sits on top a little bit. Maybe the wrong size top cap? Or is it just not tightened down in the photos?

*edit*- as for the gap in the stem, that not unusual. The Mutant is supposed to be for 25.8mm bars, but I've got 26mm bars in there. People on here recommend beer can shims pretty often (i think the post ^ does this).

yeah, it's not just screwed down fully, i dont think, It doesnt seem to sit quite flush, but it fits in better than that i think.

So I ended up taking the bike to my LBS. the dust cover wasn't sitting quite right, so the LBS cut the steerer a bit to allow the cap to fit in snug.

As for the handlebars, they tried to tighten them down a bit but were unable to do any better than i had. They said they thought the screws were the wrong length, since the turned and turned and the bolts were "bottoming-out". They suggested perhaps the seller i purchased them from sent the wrong hardware.

I contacted the seller online and he assured me that the stem was NOS and that the bag it shipped in (with 3T logo and owner's manual) was only opened to insure that everything was padded for shipping.

After examining the newly tightened stem, this morning, i am thinking that maybe the bolts for the stem attaching and the faceplate may have somehow gotten switched up. It looks like the top stem bolt in screwed further in than the bottom one [Check out top photo above]. This sorta seems to be the symptom on the faceplate as well. It seems like there is a smaller gap on the underside of the stem than on top.

The stem shipped with all of the bolts screwed in, so i assumed the hardware was attached in the correct place. It never really occurred to me that the two bolt sizes could be interchangeable. And i am surprised that the LBS wouldn't have thought that that coulda been an option/cause of the problem

I guess i will have to take the whole thing apart tonight. I guess i just wanted to see if anyone who had a Mutant stem had ever run into this and/or if this was a plausible possibility.

Lemme know what you think. Thanks again for all your help above.

wow.

park tool's website gives tutorials on how to install pretty much anything.


go there BEFORE you ruin your new parts next time!

Are your bars correct for the stem? The Mutant is a 25.8 stem, which may be a tad bit for a 25.4 due to manufacturing clearances without a shim. 26.0 should work theoretically.

What size are your bars? 25.4 or 26.0?

i printed out out EVERYTHING on the park tools website at my old job (color too, on nice stock. i was getting laid off, so i called it my severance package) and stuffed it all into a big binder.

OT here, but I think you may want to redo your front brake cable routing. Having that sharp bend at the brake can't be good.

Have you switched the screws around and tested your theory? Haven't had these problems with my Mutant. If the gap on side of the faceplate is bigger than the other, you just need to re-tighten the faceplate on each side a little bit at a time, until the gaps look pretty even top and bottom. Not having your steerer tube cut correctly would definitely be a problem.

yeah, front brake routing is next fix. I really wish they would make calipers with left-side cable connection points, as i always use my right hand to brake.

does anyone know where i can pick up one of these?