My butt's too big

[rogerzilla]

Argos brazed a new steerer onto a fork for me.  Neat job but the new steerer has a much longer butted sectiion and my very expensive stem won't go down far enough!  I tested it on the old steerer and everyfink.

I'll need to get a new stem.  Anyone interested in a Velo Orange nickel-plated steel quill stem with 31.8mm clamp, 90mm reach, 10 deg rise and about a 230mm quill?  Never actually ridden.

[Brucey]

can you not just shorten the quill part? It is normally not difficult to do this?

cheers

[spesh]

can you not just shorten the quill part? It is normally not difficult to do this?

cheers

If RZ's got the Velo Orange stem that I think he has, there is no way he's going to be butchering it with a hacksaw. I'd have thought "very expensive" would have been enough of a clue...

https://www.veloduo.co.uk/products/velo-orange-quill-stem-with-removable-faceplate

[Brucey]

I see, so folk in factories have magic cutting tools and mere mortals don't.....

I've shortened dozens of stems and never had a problem of any kind, although one thing that might catch you out is that the bolt often has rolled threads on it and can't be shortened with impunity; it varies a little but normally about an inch can be removed and you can still use the original bolt.  If you need to remove more than this a shorter bolt is normally the best solution.

 Then again I've made hollow stem bolts to replace the needlessly heavy solid ones too, so maybe I will take on jobs that others won't.  Having said that, shortening a stem is probably the most straightforward job you could do...

Its for Roger to say of course but the problem he faces is a double whammy; not only do you have to sell the stem (at a loss presumably, since whoever buys it won't enjoy any warranty on the part) but you end up having to find another stem that wasn't originally your first choice.

cheers

[rogerzilla]

Very few of us have access to an engineering workshop.  I'd never be able to cut and finish a steel stem to the right angle with a hacksaw and file. I could do it in 2 mins with a mitre saw, of course.

[Tim Hall]

Is taking it along to your local maker space an option? I don't know how they operate but understand they'll have tools of many and varied kinds.

[Blodwyn Pig]

Can you not contact Argos, and inform them of the dilemma, maybe they could ream out the steere tube, or cut the stem down with machine accuracy.

[rogerzilla]

It's cheaper to buy a stem of medium length; they come in quite a variety for about £20 and the 180mm stems give up to around 110mm above the locknut (I need 95-100mm).  The steerer is quite short and the butt is there so it doesn't break, so I wouldn't want it reduced.

I bought the expensive stem because, almost uniquely, it takes oversize bars, but I'll settle for 26.0mm bars.

[grams]

Is taking it along to your local maker space an option? I don't know how they operate but understand they'll have tools of many and varied kinds.

For the two London ones at least you require membership and tool-specific training (and access cards) on anything you could cut your arm off with, which means finding a trained volunteer trainer to sign you off, which are generally non-existent.

You might be able to find someone enthusiastic to do it for you if you went on one of their open days - I’m not sure what the rules are about that.

[hubner]

Very few of us have access to an engineering workshop.  I'd never be able to cut and finish a steel stem to the right angle with a hacksaw and file. I could do it in 2 mins with a mitre saw, of course.

Yes, a hacksaw, some files. But accurate marking would help a lot. You need to scratch a line at where you want the cut. Off the top of my head, I'd use an oddleg caliper (as I've got one) or you could rig up something.

Obviously, cut close to the line, not on it. Then file across to take it down to the line. Keep checking as you file. Or you can file a chamfer to the line and then file down until the chamfer almost disappears.

Use abrasive papers on a flat surface for final slight adjustments and for final finishing.

And you need a vice or some means to hold the stem.

[Brucey]

FWIW you can mark up for this job with high accuracy by using a few timber offcuts as a  jig.  Just lay a couple of offcuts (of the same thickness as one another and of an appropriate size)  as 'rails' on a flat surface. Then hold the stem slash cut against the flat surface and use a hacksaw blade against the rails to mark the cut you want; it will be exactly parallel to the extant surface, and cutting to that line will require minimal filing.

The biggest error is likely to arise as a result of the thickness of the hacksaw blade, which will start to cut on one corner or the other depending on which end of the slash cut you are working on. If you can do, start the cut properly in the jig (i.e. so that the full width of the blade is cutting) at the ends of the slash cut.

If you use this method note that a rail of 0.7" thickness will give a shorter steerer by ~1", assuming that the slash cut is at about 45 degrees.

cheers

[yoav]

I bought one of these;
https://www.planetx.co.uk/s?q=Steerer+tube+cutting+clamp
Ostensibly for cutting a steerer tube but it works quite well for seat posts and several other non-cycle related tube cutting needs.

[hubner]

https://velo-orange.com/collections/quill-stems/products/quill-stem-with-removable-faceplate-31-8mm



That's quite ugly with its unfinished welds and that bolt on the top. And obviously much too tall, but ideal for modern bike sizing with very low top tubes.

Is the wall thickness constant along the vertical part of the stem, ie the bit that goes into the frame?
At the bottom end it looks fairly thick for steel, I suppose to provide a bigger surface for the wedge to butt against.

[quixoticgeek]

When I read the subject, I was about to reply with "you think your butt's big? Mine took up a double page in Arriveé..."

Then I read the content, and realised we really use some words to mean too many things.

Sorry this post isn't helpful.

J

[rogerzilla]

Like "bonk" and "nipple".

[Bolt]

When I read the subject, I was about to reply with "you think your butt's big? Mine took up a double page in Arriveé..." ...
J

Never mind the buttocks, that's a very engaging ride report

[rogerzilla]

20191030_200509 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

This one's the right height and length.  It's a 21.5" frame but Jim Bundy used very short head tubes on track bikes to give a lower front end.  I think he never got over funny bikes being banned.

There's a remarkably similar one here (not mine, and yes, chain's a bit slack): https://theradavist.com/2012/02/locked-up-hate-jim-bundy-track/

Mine has the best seatstay bridge ever, though.  It's a way of saying, "Look, I can mitre tubes in my sleep".
20191030_200738 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

[mzjo]

20191030_200509 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

This one's the right height and length.  It's a 21.5" frame but Jim Bundy used very short head tubes on track bikes to give a lower front end.  I think he never got over funny bikes being banned.

There's a remarkably similar one here (not mine, and yes, chain's a bit slack): https://theradavist.com/2012/02/locked-up-hate-jim-bundy-track/

Mine has the best seatstay bridge ever, though.  It's a way of saying, "Look, I can mitre tubes in my sleep".
20191030_200738 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

Yours is prettier by far!! I don't like the seat tube cluster on that red one, the straight forks look out of place on that frame, the lugwork is crude. The chain slack, the seat tube angle totally unsuited to the rider (if he has to have his saddle that far forward) and the disc wheel is a stupidity on a brakeless road machine, he must keep it for posing locked up to lampposts (but that is nothing to do with the builder!). Ok I'm off for a pee, as he suggests. Yours is nicer

[rogerzilla]

The seat cluster is actually the same on mine (more pics on Flickr).  I don't think his is Columbus Max as he claims - Max had shaped tubes and his look like normal round ones.

[Kim]

Nope, I can't see the Marmite.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Was the photo taken in a showhome?