At 11:03 AM 9/11/06 EDT, BobHoveyGa@aol.com wrote:
>Interesting thing about the expander... back in the day, we used to
associate
>the slant wedge expander with cheap stems, as you mentioned. Theory was,
>the conical wedge applied even pressure in a circle around the
circumference of
>the steerer, while the slant wedge applied pressure front to back (and
>therefore had more chance of distorting the steering tube). Where'd we
get this
>idea? Beats me... it made sense I guess, but it turns out we were probably
>wrong... most bike mechanics I've spoken with in the years since seem to
feel that
>the conical wedge has a much greater liklihood of leaving a bulge in the
>steerer than the sliding wedge
I always thought of the expanding hollow stem as being more elegant than the wedge, which to me seemed rather agricultural. Another advantage of the wedge system is that it's far less likely to seize up. I guess in this case the cheapest, simplest solution is also the best.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, ON
Canada