Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

Has the stem snapped in two or has the wedge at the bottom just come loose?

If it has snapped a new stem will fix this without having to bin the bike.

 

As far as I can tell about 1/2" of the stem has snapped off and it is wedged in the forks (perhaps rusted in). Maybe I can get it out with some brute force, that would save me having to buy new forks!

 

Have a look for some guides about removing rusted in seat posts, and use the same techniques. Don't go in heavy handed and try to force it out or you'll likely make things worse. The first step is to soak the thing in WD40 or similar, leave overnight in an attempt to loosen any rust that may have built up. Hopefully that will do the job, although if it's really stuck in there is could be very tough, because unlike a stuck seat post, you won't even have anything to grab a hold of. A new fork wouldn't cost the earth if the worst came to the worst.

Edit. Thinking about it, I see no possible way for a stem to snap inside the steerer tube! There's simply no real force acting on that particular point of the stem, because all the force is being absorbed by the frame itself. Are you sure it's not just the wedge at the bottom that's come loose. What's the bottom of the stem look like at the moment, if it's cut at a sharp angle, then that's how it should look, and it appears that the bolt has come loose and you've lost the wedge in there, which should be retrievable. Even if it isn't, there's a possibility you could buy a replacement wedge and there could be room for the stem to still fit even with the lost piece stuck in there.

Further edit: Here's a diagram of how a quill stem works just in case you weren't sure:



That's why I find it so hard to believe that the stem has snapped in there, because it's encased within two other tubes at the time (the fork steerer tube, which itself is within the frame's steerer tube).

 

It's actually not unheard of for a quill-style stem to snap within the fork's steerer tube, as standards aren't always, shall we say, standard? If the stem has broken off mid way along leaving part of it and the wedge stuck down in your steerer ensure you've liberally soaked the area with some anti-seizing agent (such as WD-40), grab a long, sturdy screwdriver designed for use with a hammer and pound the wedge down, away from the broken off chunk of stem. Once loose both bits should be easily guided out the top (flip the bike upside down and poke the screwdriver through from the bottom to gently prise these bits out). If you don't know how a quill-style stem works then I would encourage you to briefly look up a few pictures of one similar to yours, though if you're good at grasping concepts it may just be enough to tell you that the stem will work by using two wedges (one mobile - connected to the bolt - and the other stationary - the bottom of the stem itself) that create friction on the inside of your steerer tube. It is about as simple as simple gets, really.

Edit: dullonien, no matter how much metal the system is encased in, the fact remains that your body weight slamming down onto the handlebars can be more than sufficient to cause a failure state to happen, compromising these structures. I've seen more than a few broken off quill-style stems both within the confines of the fork's steerer tube and flush (or thereabouts) with the top of the headset. As I said earlier, it isn't unreasonable to find a stem that doesn't have a good friction fit within a steerer tube, resulting in play back and forth. But don't think about the forces only coming from the ground, as that is only half the battle, since your cockpit area has far more to deal with from your meaty husk than it ever does from the ground.

 

Been having a little trouble actually finding reviews of frames tbh. I normally ride the terrain in the video below, anyone link me to a good forum/website of reviews etc?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwsKacRpKxQ

P.s while your here any full sus frame suggestions to look at would be nice theres soo many.

 

Quill definitely sheared off, out of focus photo for non believers:

Fantastic, this worked perfectly, thank you! Quill removed, new one installed, and bike back to working condition with no more wobbliness in the handlebars!

The many hours of work also included replacing three spokes, the cassette, chain, and inner tube. Truing the wheel took ages, and I'm still not happy with it!

Still left to do: replace brake pads, replace back V-brakes, replace brake cables..... replace brake levers if I can be bothered >_>

You calling me fat?

 

Well that's me proven wrong! In my mind it didn't make sense, but there we go.

Glad you could get it sorted woof.

I avoid fiddling with spokes myself. I've tried to solve a small wobble in the past, but always make things worse. At some point I'm going to buy a proper truing stand and teach myself to build wheels. I'd like to try some of the more unusual lacing patterns, such a radially spoked etc. especially on my SingleSpeed. Shops charge a fortune for wheel building, especially now that pre-built wheels are the norm. I buckled a wheel a couple of years ago in a crash. It cost over £100 to get my wheel re-built. I did chose expensive double butted spokes which accounted for around half the cost. Still, I had to get my lovely Hope tiGlide rear hub back in action, laced it to an X517 = superlight wheel.

 

Thanks mate. I'm new to bike maintenance so it's all exciting to me still. Part of the reason why I need to replace the v-brakes is because I snapped the spring when I was being a bit heavy handed taking them off! Steep learning curve

Tried lots of stuff I'd never done before today that I've been to scared to have a crack at (cassette replacement and headset overhaul) which was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. Spoke and brake adjustment still a pain in the arse to get perfect, but it feels so fantastic when it's just right so maybe worth the hassle!

 

Nope. Notice how I used the term "meaty" rather than "fatty"?

Good to hear that you got it sorted though!


@dullonien: if you want to see some fun, exotic patterns I'm the person to talk to I've got a few that I consider "standard" unique patterns that I charge an arm and a leg for at work and have no problem giving you pointers and step-by-step's on them, though I would recommend getting good at a regular three-cross semi-tangent first before trying out anything too fun.

 

-What's your budget?
-Are you swapping the frame out or building from scratch?

An off the shelf bike will be more cost effective most of the time, so unless you want something really specific or have a good budget or good doner bike then I would just buy something prebuilt and customise it if need be. I've got a Trek Remedy and would happily recommend it for that sort of riding. It goes up and down trails pretty well and is decent enough riding position to ride it all day and be comfortable. It's the bike I use when I want to have fun and do a bit of everything. Every big name brand does a similar bike so like Malvolio said it's worth giving some bikes a try and go from there.

 

Reason I wanna make it myself is really just the pride and satisfaction associated with doing so plus I want to move a couple of parts over from my hardtail call it my mid life crisis if you will except I hope I am not middle aged yet . Budget is around £2000 tops and I am thinking about maybe reusing my Roxshox Reba's etc. My plan is for it to be a sought of lenthly process sourcing good parts hence I wanted to get underway with the frame but I find the different shapes for rear suspension a little baffling.

I have signed up to a few bike forums and researched a few demo days near by.

 

I can understand that Archtronics. Building my Kona AA was hugely satisfying. The retro part just made it more so, because each component had to be carefully sourced. There's things I'd like to change, but I don't get a chance to do any off roading at the moment, hence my Kona Singlespeed, which was again fun to build.

One thing I'd warn you about though is to keep a close eye on what you're spending, and try to be strict. It's easy to keep within budget when buying a pre-built bike, but when building it yourself it's easy to allow things to slip. I set out to spend not much money of my AA (maybe £400ish), but I think the final total was nearer the £1,000 mark I never have added it all up). I found it too easy to buy a Kris King headset over a cheaper one that would have done just fine (got it cheap off ebay mind, but still...), for example. It was easy to convince myself that I could spend another £10 on this component and £30 on that, and it eventually all added up. Buying over a lengthy period of time doesn't help matters either.

Still, good luck and have fun. I found the building process almost as much fun as riding the finished bike.

 

So, I got all the new parts for my bike and I ran into a problem.

The rear derailleur I chose cannot change between more than 5 gears on my 9 gear casette even though it states that it's a 9 speed changer.

I am using it with a frame mounted friction changer, but it appears as if the rear derailleur simply can't extend far enough, or contract far enough to reach the outer and inner two sprockets. Is it just me who was an idiot ordering, or can I somehow fix it? It sucks not having the full 9-speed range when riding in the city with all the stop and go traffic.

Heres a link to the rear derailleur and casette:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26502
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=387

 

Have you adjusted the stop screws?

There will be two philips head screws on the laft of the mech as you look at it, these screws hit a plate as the mech is moved towards and away from the wheel, this stops the chain coming off the bottom of the cassette or off the top and putting it into the spokes of the wheel.

Check 2:20 ish

 

Oh jesus.. if it's as simple as that I might smack myself. I haven't adjusted them and will certainly try when I get home today.

 

Since my bike needed it's front and rear cogs replaced after 4 years and over 10.000km of use I decided to throw it in for some mayor maintenance and a few new parts:

Got myself a new set of pedals and a Hebie chainglider, the Ergon PC2 to be precise.
So far I quite like them. The pedals are nice and large and your feet generally just slide into place and not move anymore once they are on.
The chainglider was a bit of a gamble, but let's see how I like it in a few months or even in winter. I prefer something else besides the original full chaincase (which was hell to take off, but did offer excellent protection)

Better pics over here:

(click for larger)

 

Here's a ride i'm planning soon

 

I have my graduating exams this summer and after that I have a full year of no studying. I want to have a job in that period and I was wondering whether any of you have experience with being a bike-messenger/courier? Or could you atleast point me to some forum with any experience in that field?

 

Hello!

I used to ride a road bike, but stopped about ten years ago. I didn't do anything untill about last year when I started jogging/running.. but my left knee is acting up and it keeps from running often or longer then half an hour.

Anyway, a few of my friends picked up a road bike and they go out for sunday rides.. and I've decided to join them. Let me be honest up front here: I'm not the greatest athlete, I'm not very competition minded and I'm not planning on doing any races..heck, I'm not even in any decent shape. This is just going out with friends having fun and getting some exercise instead of drinking beers. Still, even though I don't need it AT ALL, I'd still like a fancy bike. I'm a gear head.

I've been trying out a few different bikes and so far I feel a Trek Madone in 56cm fits me quite well and offers a decent setup. I'm planning on buying used and they are not that hard to find. Current model that I've looked at is the 5.2 ... so I'm looking for a used bike with the current frame and a Shimano Ultegra setup or better, although I would take one with a 105 setup as well if the price is right. I've thread a Eddy Mercx EMX-1 and although I really like them and they come with slightly better equipment, the frame feels a bit shorter , too short for my arms/upper body.

Any opinions on the Trek Madone 5.2 bikes?

Things to look out for when buying a used one? I've read the older models (with narrow tubes and fin on the downtube) had some frame-issues, so I'm avoiding those, but I couldn't find any complaints on the current oversize frame-style.

Cheers

 

You must be a lot luckier than us, my Bike's been locked up indoors for months now... stupid rain

Can't offer any advice on the bike I'm afraid, I'm rolling on a Giant atm.