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What are some quality quill stem brands?

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What are some quality quill stem brands?

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Old 10-06-20, 03:10 PM
  #26  
Salamandrine 
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I concur on the Sutro quill stems. A little higher than vintage. Plus it has a picture of the giant roachclip on it.

You won't get the bars anywhere near as high as they are in the picture with any vintage stem other than a Technomic - which is always an option. The Nitto 'Tallux' sold by Rivendell is super nice. Costs a bit more, but fit and finish is fantastic.
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Old 10-06-20, 03:36 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
I didn't do the math and I forget what I've done. Ou're right. 2 shims so I have to slighlty force the clamp apart or a slightly thicker aluminum sheet. There is also the fact that the diameters of both stems and clamps vary from spec. I'm pretty sure I've shimmed bars with single can shims very successfully for decade runs. Maybe a to spec Cinelli stem and a TTT bar drawn through older tired dies?.
There were a lot of mis-fits that got ridden in the old days, before heat-treated thinner-walled bars came along.

I even recall my Trek 720 coming with a Cinelli 1A stem with I think a Belleri-Franco handlebar measuring well under 25.4mm!

The thinner bars will dent at the clamp if the bolt is so much as over-torqued or if a bar's smaller diameter allows the edge of the clamp lug to bend inward as it will very much tend to do.

TTT stuff was all officially 26.8mm while almost all others settled on 26.0. This small difference was considered insignificant at the bike shop level from what I saw, and not sure how measurable it even was.

I do worry about cracking a clamp since I've seen a few that had cracks run straight across through the thin section. This includes TTT and Cinelli.

Nitto makes a shim that is designed to best support a 25.4mm bar in a 26.0 stem and I'm sure it would work in a 25.8mm TTT stem as well.
There are other choices also for thickness of metal stock so I eschew the use of soda cans. Larger-diameter beer cans are a good bit thicker to handle the proportionally-greater hoop stress of the larger-diameter pressure vessel, so might serve as a decent shim if doubled.

Last edited by dddd; 10-07-20 at 11:55 AM.
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Old 10-06-20, 03:48 PM
  #28  
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...

Three of my favorites...

GB
GB
GB


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Old 10-06-20, 05:08 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
. And best stem out there - the Nitto Pearl (and probably the new Nitto that has taken its place but I have not seen it yet).
I have a new production Nitto on an Italian Stallion of all things ---- mainly due to the Soma Highway One bars i used (short and shallow reach like the modern stuff) being made by Nitto --- the finish on the new production Nitto stems matched the bars very nicely

The parts were so pretty i should have taken a pic before installing them - but alas - maybe next time



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Old 10-06-20, 11:29 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by zachleft
Oh of course - the bike is a 1990 Trek 1420

This is what how it looked when I picked it up. I've swapped a few parts since; new Fabric saddle, vintage Nitto stem as I mentioned, tape, hybrid pedals, etc. When these tires finally go I plan on getting some gum walls. I think the previous owner tried to match the red with the pink on the frame, but it doesn't look great imo
would you mind providing some details on the groupset you have there? looks like deore dx? and half step? oh....if you've swapped out that stem, the black sakae, are you interesting in selling it? been looking for one. they don't come up often much less in clean shape
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Old 10-06-20, 11:32 PM
  #31  
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btw, zenith makes some really nice quill stems. out of the UK, i believe
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Old 10-07-20, 09:59 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by zachleft
So now I'm the market for another quill stem ... What are some solid brands to look out for on the second hand market?
You can do a velobase search and limit it to certain components, countries, and decades.

VeloBase.com - Component Search
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Old 10-07-20, 12:49 PM
  #33  
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Deda Murex is very nice.
$35ish online.
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Old 10-07-20, 01:00 PM
  #34  
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Maybe your frame is too small? The saddle is up very high, and the bars look pretty well extended already.
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Old 10-07-20, 01:19 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by thook
would you mind providing some details on the groupset you have there? looks like deore dx? and half step? oh....if you've swapped out that stem, the black sakae, are you interesting in selling it? been looking for one. they don't come up often much less in clean shape
It's all pretty much Shimano:



Also yeah I'd be up for selling the black stem. $15 sound alright?

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Old 10-07-20, 01:52 PM
  #36  
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hey...thanks for the details! those deore II derailleurs ...for half step...are hard to find, also

sending pm on the stem....

thanks!
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Old 10-07-20, 09:05 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by zachleft
Oh of course - the bike is a 1990 Trek 1420

This is what how it looked when I picked it up. I've swapped a few parts since; new Fabric saddle, vintage Nitto stem as I mentioned, tape, hybrid pedals, etc. When these tires finally go I plan on getting some gum walls. I think the previous owner tried to match the red with the pink on the frame, but it doesn't look great imo
Ive got a few Stems in the length you need, I think one is a Specialized that would fit. If youre interested PM me, I can show you what I have available..Pretty inexpensive too.
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Old 10-07-20, 09:07 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by kroozer
Maybe your frame is too small? The saddle is up very high, and the bars look pretty well extended already.
I agree, thats a small frame,looks like a 52,,, maybe for somebody around 5'-5" or so.
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Old 10-09-20, 12:50 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by kroozer
Maybe your frame is too small? The saddle is up very high, and the bars look pretty well extended already.
Originally Posted by Manny66
I agree, thats a small frame,looks like a 52,,, maybe for somebody around 5'-5" or so.
It's a 54cm and I'm 5'9. I think it's a good fit. I just think I overcompensated with a 70mm stem after having the inclined mountainbike stem. I didn't do much research before switching and just assumed it'd be fine lol
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Old 10-09-20, 05:11 PM
  #40  
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saw your post and I have a 3TTT stem that some of the reply’s mention here. It was in a big box of parts I bought recently and it looks to be unused. I am not a road bike guy so I am looking to move it.



Last edited by rob_ralph; 10-09-20 at 06:52 PM.
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