stem help?
 

I just started ripping apart my first road bike, to convert it to a fixie. I have everything off besides the bottom bracket and stem. This is a picture of the stem. Can you guys tell me what kind of stem this is, wether its as quill or what? How do I remove this bad boy band what style would replace it?

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...307_104404.jpg

Yeah that looks like a quill stem, although not a pretty one. Anyway there should be an allen nut in the top, facing down into the head tube. Loosen that and it should pull out. There is a chance that it might have gotten stuck over time, so you might have to get rough with it a little at first. But it should just pull out easily.

Yes, what iTripped said... it looks like a strange stem on a pretty typical 1" threaded steerer. Here's a picture of the allen nut:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=302957

You should be able to just replace it with another stem for a 1" threaded system.

Good luck!

Hmmm OK. I took that bolt alllll the way out. Ill try to screw it back in, then yank it out whole.

Wow! Yeah, if that bolt is all the way out you must have some serious rust going on! I had that on an old rusted freewheel one time. I had to fight that thing pretty hard to convince it to come off. (And use a decent amount of degreaser). If you do use a degreaser, make sure any parts that need lubed get re-lubed after you degrease...

uh-oh.

I was unaware that removing the entire bolt was a no no. Luckily, it screwed back in. That stem will not budge though...not sure what to do.

if you loosen the bolt quite a bit, and it wont pull out, get some PB blaster or Liquid Wrench and spray it in there and leave it for a few hours to a day.
this will help.

the way a quill stem works is that bolt screws into either a wedge shaped thing or a tapered cone shaped thing that will fix the stem in there once you tighten the bolt.
allot of time, since quill stems are "old school" so to speak, they've been in there a long time and time and water will rust it up down in there, and that wedge that the bolt is screwing into becomes stuck. one thing that has also worked for me is unscrewing the bolt out enough that it sticks up but is still screwed in some, then i take a rubber mallet and whack it on the bolt a few times. this will push the wedge down and unstick it.

good luck!

Thanks guys, really appreciate the quick responses. What should I be looking at as a replacement, once I get this dang thing out?

That looks like an inexpensive stamped sheet metal stem. You'll need another quill stem of the same size. Better to replace it with an aluminum alloy stem. A basic one is not expensive at all and will be better than what it is replacing. Do you have a pair of calipers to measure it? You can find some charts describing common stem sizes on this page.

It is very cheaply made. Everything on the bike is being tossed, besides the frame. I do not have calipers, I need to go grab a pair.

It doesn't look like much corrosion. When you have the stem bolt back in, lossen it a few turns, then give it a good tap with a hammer. That should separate the wedge from the stem.

<edit> Oops... illdthedj already suggested that.

With a quill stem you loosen the bolt a bit and hit it with a hammer to loosen the wedge nut on the other end, until you loosen the wedge nut the stem is still locked in place;) Oil is good...
just saw that this was already suggested also:)

Thanks guys. For now its soaking in pb blaster and im drinkin beers. Will report back tomorrow.

Well you know, sometimes these things need a little help to work out. As an illustrative example I give you this:

Walked by it, gave it a punch and it popped right out. Shopping for stems now..