First post here. Howdy all.

I ride a brown 2008 SE Lager. Nothing fancy, but I dig it. Bought it on "last year's model" sale for $399 from Performance.
UPGRADES = White Industries ENO 17t freewheel, All-City Messenger 44t, Brooks B17 saddle, white Vittoria Randonneur 700x28 tires, MKS Sylvan touring pedals, red bar wrap.

It's nice to have a bike that isn't super flashy or expensive - I live in Chicago proper and bike theft is a concern. I'd rather no one notices/covets my bike, but I do want it to perform well and reliably (hence the upgrades).
The 44t All-City Messenger ring was just installed last night. the bike came with a 46/16 setup but the freewheel was junk so I bought the ENO 17t to make it a little easier on me (46/16 was a lot of work). I was riding it that way for a couple years and I love that ratio in ideal conditions but on windy days and longer rides it became a bit of a chore. Plus I don't wear a helmet so I was thinking maybe I should slow it down a bit. And my wife rides slow so gearing mine down a little would let us ride together more easily/comfortably. So last night I bought the All-City 44t Messenger ring from my local shop and installed it. It sucks that I can't haul as much ass on the straightaways anymore but the difference is minimal. Noticeable, but just barely. Likewise it does help a little on the hills (aka "bridges" haha), and on real windy days I won't be scared to go for long rides. Plus with all the stop&go due to traffic lights and whatnot, the 44/17 is helpful (although a bit wimpy).

PHEW. Sorry. Had to get that out there so you kow where I'm at and where I came from.

So now I'm wondering what else I can beef up on my bike and I notice the stem is weak sauce. It's made from the same soft material as the stock 46t chain ring was. And that thing was TOAST. It had gouges and damage on nearly every tooth. It was paper thin and just felt extremely cheap. If I had noticed it sooner I would've made it a top priority to replace.

SO, can anyone suggest a stem? I would prefer plain black or chrome/metal and was looking at something like this - https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...0&category=784
But I don't know much about bikes and I'm not sure what size I need? And then what angle? When I got the bike I did flip the stem upside down because it had a slight downward angle, so flipping it gave it an upward angle and brought the bars up closer to me which I dig because I'm 6'4" (150 lbs).

Sorry for the novel. Glad to be here. Thanks in advance for your patience and help.

Dimension makes cheap, sturdy stems that aren't covered in flashy logos.


1 1/8". You need to know the diameter of your bars (in mm, at the spot where they will be clamped by the stem) to get the right size. Angle is totally preference.

Nice. Thanks for the quick response. You're definitely pickin' up what I'm puttin' down. I would prefer no logos. I took all the stickers off my Lager. Like I said, I'm going for a non-flashy look so as to help avoid theft.

I did some research on the web and it seems like maybe the size I need (to fit the fork) is 28.6mm? And then the bars are 25.4mm? Does that sound right?

PS- the bike is 61cm size (largest they make) and it looked like this when it was stock, except in this pic that stem looks much better than mine. Mine is a dull porous soft lightweight aluminum type of material, whereas the one in the pic looks smooth/shiny/solid.

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...7&category=784
That one seems like it'll do the trick. But I guess I'll need a shim to fit my 25.4mm bars in a 26mm clamp? Or will it be alright without?

https://www.retro-gression.com/product/dimension-stem

Even less logos, available in 25.4, a buck cheaper.

tl;dr

Ooooh. Nice! I think I found the winner. Thanks all.

I don't blame you, haha. I just wanted to give all the info. Too often folks ask questions on forum and don't give enough info to get a good answer. So there are so many follow up questions and annoyed forumites, etc.

One last question- what angle does 83/97* and 73/107* come out to? Most sites I've seen don't describe the angle in that manner, and it's hard to tell from the pics...

Subtract 90 from those numbers.

+/-7, and +/-17

Wow this forum is great. Seriously. Good answers and lightning quick too. Thanks again!

No problem. In the future, I'd try not to open three threads though... Bunch them together next time.

That's one very nice bike. Do not forget to lock it up!

Go to Cycle Smithy. Buy a stem for $20. Ride it for a day or two. If you don't like it, take it back. I tried three different stems from them before I settled on the one I have.

Right on, I'll keep that in mind.
In other forums I frequent they prefer you keep threads separate and on-topic, etc. So I was kinda in the habit. Didn't want to bombard a single thread with multiple questions.
But going forward I will. Sorry about that.

My stem actually says 10 degrees and 80mm right on it.
So I think I'll go with an 80mm 73/107* but I haven't decided on black or silver yet.

The dimension stem arrived today. So I got to learn all about forks and headsets and things. Took everything apart, cleaned and lubed it. Put it back together with the new parts. Had to run to my local shop for some black spacers and a black washer for the top. Looks pretty cool, but most importantly it's a more dependable stem than the stock one.

One question - the bottom bearing inside the frame, where the fork goes through, it wouldn't come out (neither would the top one) - but the bottom one had a little grit/dirt in it. It wasn't terrible but it had a little something you could feel when turning it. I cleaned it as best I could but like I said, it just sat in there and didn't seem meant to be removed. So I fussed with it for a bit until most of the grit was out, as much as I could get. Then I added a few drops of lube and got it all back together. It seems fine but should I be concerned? I basically removed the fork and cleaned and lubed and reassembled it. But I'm not a pro bike mechanic or anything.

Concerned about what?

Grit/dirt in the bottom bearing. I figure it doesn't matter much but I assume, ideally, you would want there to be no contaminates in there, right? I guess I might be subject to more rapid wear? I just didn't know if that was a big no-no or something. It's a commuting bike, not for show - so I'm okay with it. But didn't want to foolishly cause myself expensive repairs later this year. Sorry, I know very little about bike mechanics, thanks for your patience.

It happens. Your front wheel throws dirt at it constantly. If its not binding or anything, its not a big deal.

Thanks for the quick response. Glad to hear it. It was binding a bit but after I cleaned it out as best I could and lubed it, it's smoothed out just fine now. If I spun the bearing with my fingers I could feel a little something still in there but the bearings were not coming out so a full cleaning wasn't an option. No matter though, sounds like normal stuff that I mostly took care of already.
I hadn't had that thing serviced ever, so if after 3 years of riding it, that's all that was in there... and now that I cleaned it out fairly well, I'm betting it's good to go for at least another year or more. Thanks again.

Yeah, sealed bearings really are a miracle. In order to get them out you need a bearing removal tool.

If it's an integrated headset, yes. The cartridge bearings in that headset should pop right out though. They're not pressed in.