francophile 

While continuing my elusive hunt for a black French-diameter (22.0) quill stem with 100mm-120mm reach, I stumbled across this product on the auction website:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/233467408083

Note: I have no affiliation to the seller ("hunkyshaw"), but as someone that's had to sand down shafts to make things fit in a French steer tube in the past, I can appreciate someone is making pre-machined adapters for folks, although I don't need or want to go threadless in my case. It looks like this seller is setup to manufacture, and I like it doesn't look horribly chronologically-off when installed...

noglider 

There you go. That could work!

francophile 

Except I'm not looking to go threadless and, in my case, I'm going black.
I have no less than half a dozen 22.0 quill stems in the shop, probably closer to a dozen. Just none in black.

Tonight I'm going to spend my evening reading up on how to anodize at home. Maybe I can just strip ano off one of my silver stems and re-ano it black. I seem to recall it's a really messy and/or dangerous process though, both due to electricity and chemicals/gasses for removing old ano.

BFisher

Yes! I've had their website bookmarked for future possibilities:
https://www.bandlbicycles.com/produc...dless-4978.htm

Have not ordered anything from them, so no experience to share.

francophile 

Feeback on eBay is overwhelmingly positive. almost 2,000 sales and the only negative feedback I see on them going back a year is "intentionally sent wrong product, knowing I can't return it" which sounds like BS. Everything on eBay is returnable, even if not marked as such.

noglider 

I betcha I have a 22.2 black stem of the right length I'm not using. I could even sand it down for you. Interested?

francophile 

Nah. I've got a setup for easy sanding and don't mind doing the work. Really looking to find something the correct size versus hacking at the issue.

I may buck up and just use one of my silver stems. Just love the way this specific bike looks with a black stem.

SurferRosa

​​​​​​​I agree painting an entire stem is sort of a hack.

joejack951

Been there, done that (not for a stem but other parts) and it is not worth it. Find a local anodizing vendor. Drop by their shop and give them the specs of your stem. Hopefully you know which type of aluminum it is as this is critical to getting a good result. Ask them if they can do you a favor and include your part on the rack when they run black anodized parts (Type II, Class II). Chances are they'll be happy to do it for free and even happier if you hand them some cash or beer for their trouble. Be sure to provide it to them in the state you want it anodized. I suggest buffing it with Scotch Brite and then polishing to your desired smoothness.

Salamandrine 

I bought one of those adapters from that seller a few years back. It's been accurately turned down, and is a high quality piece. At the time, I hadn't been riding for a while, and wanted to experiment with a more casual positioning on my PX10 build. It worked great for that. At some point it was always the plan to put a quill stem on, but I've not gotten around to it yet. It doesn't really stick out too much, if you're not looking for it. ( I guess that's arguable, )




I have no doubt finding a black French 22.0 stem is going to be difficult. By the time black stems were in fashion, French stems were very rare. If you are patient enough, one might eventually turn up. If you are on a shorter time schedule than that would entail, I agree with the others, get a stem, polish it up (sand down if necessary), and have it anodized or anodize yourself.

You've probably seen it, but check out Caswell plating.

billytwosheds 

Have had one of those B&L 22.0mm threadless adapters for several years.

Fit and finish are solid, no complaints...except that you're threadless!

verktyg 

Thin anodizing is clear. As the coating gets thicker it becomes darker gray then brown as in the color of "hard anodized" rims. The dark anodizing can be as much as .005" thick.

Anodized surfaces are porous and in most cases the black color is a somewhat permanent dye that has been treated afterward with a hard sealant. Same thing with other anodized colors.

An anodizer may be willing to throw a stem or other part into a batch of items being dyed but they also may be reluctant because the part could contaminate their process and result in splotchy finishes.

verktyg