Shinkers

Hey, real quick:

I've got a Soma Sutra stem I'm putting in an 88 Trek fork. On this particular bike I was wanting to run the stem a bit lower and was wondering about butting in the fork.

Is butting usually tapered? If I insert the stem there's definitely a hard stop but I'm wondering if a taper continues up from there. I'd run it just a bit higher from the stop but the stem is obviously not centered in the lock nut em which made me wonder if I was in a butted section (or it could just be my stem).

I just don't want to be JRA and pull my handle bars out of my fork...

Thanks!

rumrunn6

might try the mechanics section too? altho crossposting isn't good forum etiquette

Bradleykd

What type of lock is on the stem? If it is one with an angled wedge, you can cut the stem off at the same angle as it has now so it won't go in as far. No need to get out the protractor, it just has to be close.

Shinkers

Yeah it's got the normal slanted wedge deal.

It's not worth it to me to mess around with cutting it though, Id just as soon use it as is but in its lowest setting.

Sluggo

It is possible that you would be running into the butted section if it's a small frame with a short steer tube. For example, true temper tubes have a 64 mm thick-walled section and 25 mm taper, so the taper would start about 3.5 inches from the bottom of the fork crown. A production frame would probably retain the entire butt and taper.

Shinkers

Okay, so it's a large frame. Is there any way to tell where that taper begins, and whether my fork has one?

Thanks!

Andy_K 

I've had this problem myself, and I found an archived thread that provides the kind of information you're looking for: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ose-stems.html

In particular, scroll down to post 13 by @Scooper.

If the Soma Sutro is bottoming out, you could probably get by with a more normal sized stem. I know it's hard to find old stems as clean looking as that one, but they're out there. If you want something new, a Nitto Dynamic would probably solve your problem.

79pmooney

Looking at the Soma Sutra and the Nitto Pearl, it looks to m like the Pearl has a shorter quill and is just as nice a stem. (I have two Pearls. They are gorgeous and the nicest machined stems I have ever seen. (Caution - buy 1 cm shorter than what you want. The length of the Pearl is not done top center to top center but center of handlebar to perpendicular to the quill centerline. A 13 Pearl is a 140 Cinelli! I have a 13 Pearl and a 135 Cinelli. The Pearl is a real 1/2 cm longer.)

Ben

Shinkers

Andy, that thread was exactly what I was looking for!

I'll see how far in mine will go and decide from there whether I'll get something shorter.

Thanks!

Shinkers

So here's what I found...

Using the method in the above thread, I can push my stem all the way down to the hard stop. This leads me to believe my fork is not butted?

Still a safe bet to run it slammed or bring it up a bit still?

Thanks everybody.