On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 15:45:56 GMT, Retro Bob <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:OK... having been out of the bicycle arena for about 25-30 years, I've
recently returned. I'm having trouble getting my hands around some
changes, but I'm getting there. The one that has me the most confused
is the new style stems vs. the quill design. What are the advantages
to the new design ?
Increased profit for the bike manufacturer and increased sales of
stems as replacement parts for those whose bike doesn't fit right with
the original stem, either immediately or later on.
Quoted message said:I can;t see an overall weight advantage, it's
not simpler, it's definitely not more elegant... ?
And, most of all, it doesn't give you the option of changing the bar
height in seconds with just one wrench, unless the stem is an
adjustable type...and even then, the range of adjustment is generally
not much.
Quoted message said:PS. Anyone know why there are so many stems (new style) for sale on
Ebay ? A quick check show s 850+ for sale, out pacing even (all) tire
listings by 2:1.
Well, between the people trying to capitalize on the fact that the
threadless stem that comes with a given bike is often wrong for the
rider, and the people who have used and/or new-but-wrong stems that
they're trying to unload, there are quite a lot of stems for sale.
Take that as an indication of the merits of the threadless. (I've got
a threadless-steerer bike with a seat post clamp to tension the
headset and a quill stem in the tube, myself. I decided that I'd
really rather not play the whole swap-stems-looking-for-the-right-one
game.)
There's one place where threadless is, in my estimation, unavoidable.
Carbon steerers. Of course, the carbon steerer itself is *very*
avoidable, as far as I'm concerned.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.