derek.fulmer

Still tossing around different fixed gear choices, currently considering a Langster Steel or a Masi Speciale.

The new langster steel's have the quill stem. I'm not too familiar with these, so I'm looking to weigh the pros and cons of them against a removable stem (not sure of the technical term for the stem on my Allez, but I'm sure it gets the point across).

Are they sturdier? Harder to position up or down to fit your riding preference?

squeegeesunny 

They are not sturdier, they are easy to adjust up and down. They have that classic look that alot of people admire.

rustybrown

They look rad.

Up and down is easy to move. It's the reach that will take more effort.

dbwoi

+1

TheBikeRollsOn 

Height is easy to adjust, they are usually pretty flexy, it's a PITA to change bars on them. I don't have a problem with them, as both of my bikes come with quill. One has a threadless adapter, but that doesn't make it less flexy. The only thing I hate, is when people go out of their way to change from threadless to threaded because it's a lot of time, effort, and money to switch to a pretty inferior system.

NinetiesKid

I think your Allez has a threadless stem

threaded looks rad on certain bikes

less stiff

maybe less versatile

TheBikeRollsOn 

No, it's threaded for sure. I wish it were threadless, but no worries. The fixed gear is closer to being threadless since I have an adapter.

AEO

even your up and down is limited to how far the quill will go into the steerer and it's minimum insertion point.
with a threadless stem, you just swap it out for a stem with sharp angle.

TheBikeRollsOn 

This is a very good point.

thirdgenbird

+2

TheBikeRollsOn 

Threadless can look damn good too btw

thirdgenbird

agreed. it all depends on what you are building.

TheBikeRollsOn 

True, what stem is the one you posted? I want.

thirdgenbird

its a deda murex. its a little flexy, but overall it is very nice and has a removable 2 bold "face". if you buy one it wont look quite like that. i had to do some sanding and polishing to make it that shiny.

TheBikeRollsOn 

Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. You're telling me that stem has a removable face plate? That's the only threaded stem I've seen with a removable face plate that doesn't look like complete ass. I didn't realize it was your bike either. What's the rest of the ride look like?

thirdgenbird

it did look like this:


then the frame was upgraded to this:


the eurus wheels are off my other bike. i am in the process of building "proper" wheels for the tommasini. silver campagnolo hubs laced laced to silver campagnolo tubular rims (all NOS, 28h, 2x)

edit:
you can see one of the new rims hiding in the second picture. (tan sidewalls will return)

soyboy

They are flexier, heavier, there are fewer choices(and fewer and fewer everyday) I'm not saying you can't find them but at somepoint when you ask for one at a bike shop they're going to give you odd looks and offer the only option(maybe by pyramid?) it'll be heavy, black and awkwardly angled but you'll take it because you need one and eBay is full of scammers, while your at it look for some fixed gear that use 27 inch tires, it's the next "old school" trend we are going to watch people embrace(because they look so classic)

AEO

3T mutant stems also have removable face plates.

derek.fulmer

Thanks for the advice. Definitely seems like quill stems are or should be obsolete technology for good reason, but as some of you mentioned, their looks and nostalgia attract. I get that, but I want versatility. The stem has been one of the key components when looking at FG bikes. Has to have a certain kind...not quill, at least for what I want.

r_S

https://www.bikebits.ie/product.asp?i...uct_type=Stems

Had this stem on my Colnago Master Olympic. Not easy to handle as a Deda murex, but nicer.

I read even a lot of mixed reviews about the murex.

Or look at this

https://italiancyclingjournal.blogspo...rstem-for.html

seau grateau

Yeah, fixed gears should be obsolete too since variable gears is so much more efficient and versatile technology, yet here we all are.

norskagent

Once you find a quill stem and bar setup you like, and fits you well, little change is required thereafter. Unless you like to constantly change things out. The only threadless stem I have is on my 29r singlespeed mtn. bike, and I haven't changed anything on it other than swapping the grips for ourys. So a removable faceplate is nice but not essential for most riders I think. I recently scored a dura ace quill stem for my fuji track bike, it is amazing - no stem clamp bolt visable anywhere!

jtgotsjets

There are people here who have come up with all kinds of reasons to dislike quill stems, but it's mostly hyperbole. If threadless stems are stiffer, it's at an order of magnitude impossible for mere mortals to detect. Maybe they're slightly more versatile, since you can flip them. Is this really such a big deal?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Neither is clearly superior. I suspect that the primary reason the bike industry has moved to threadless is because it makes things cheaper to manufacture (even though consumers have never seen a price drop that reflects this).

The way I see it, if threadless was truly superior, there wouldn't be so many bikes still being manufactured with quill stems. Think of any other 20+ year-old design improvement on bikes—if they were any good, they became 99% standard.

AEO

The difference in stiffness between a 22.2mm diameter quill stem to a 28.6mm threadless is more evident the longer it gets. The threadless can also be made in carbon fiber or aluminum, which is much lighter than a fork with steel steerer.
There's really no disadvantage to threadless stems over quill stems, other than price, which is evident in that no one would recommend switching from a threadless fork to threaded fork for the sake of using quill stems. You don't see a cost saving in threadless, because manufacturers can use more complex materials or draw tubes thinner to take advantage of the better interface and that costs more money.


the one place you find a lot of quill stem usage are on are cheap department store bikes made from hi-ten steel. keeping the quill stem on these sorts of bikes also makes it cheaper to hobble together useful bikes from older junk bikes.

thirdgenbird

WRONG. do i need to make a video to prove it? my quill setup is a higher end deda bar and stem and my threadless setup is a cheap wayless bar/stem setup.

you can visually see the flex difference between the two. that said, the deda setup is much nicer for long relaxed ride. (i also have a very stiff ITM threadless setup but its a very oversized stem and bladed road drops.)


i suspect the primary reason is not cost but stiffness and weight.

if you still think its price, count the threadless stems here:
wal-mart
and here:
excel sports

find the average price, weight, and percentage of quill stems in use.


i'm not hating on quill (i love my murex) but technology has advanced. threadless just ha no place on my tommasini