At 4:55 PM -0400 4/26/07, Bianca Pratorius wrote:
>A local bike shop owner wants to gift me a TTT pantographed Colnago
>stem in the perfect 10 cm size that I use. The pantographing seems
>unusual in that it is a shade deeper into the aluminum surface. The
>stem is stuck in one of those crack addict's bikes. This one is an
>old ALAN that has a crack in the headtube, part of the seat lug
>cracked off on the tightening fixture, a crack in the downtube, a
>bent crank, rusted and corroded Zeus brakes, etc. The only things
>worth saving are the SR headset and the stem. Wouldn't you know it,
>some jerk apparently hammered the wrong size stem into the steerer
>tube? We have had it soaking in every kind of thing for two days and
>we can't even turn it one bit no less get it out. I tried sticking a
>solid metal rod into the fork from underneath and tapping it to
>break the stem loose. Even that won't work. Short of cutting the
>head tube and then cutting the fork in half what might be done. The
>shop owner says a torch, but this qualifies as a special case
>because the stem is aluminum and so is the pitifull frame.
>
>Garth Libre in Miami Fl USA
A couple of possibilities occur to me:
A.: Unscrew the expander bolt. Buy a piece of "drill rod" in the largest size that will slide through the threads of the expander. Stick the drill rod up through the bottom of the steerer and maybe it will find a purchase on the inside near the top, where the hole in the stem narrows down. Strike the exposed end with an inertial-impact-alignment-instrument (hammer.)
2.: If that doesn't work, take a hacksaw to the bottom of the head tube, just above the internal part of the lower head cup of the headset. Cut right through the head tube and steerer until the steerer is separated.
This will allow you to remove the stem and the part of the steerer it's stuck into. Once you have direct access to the steerer, some form of violence should manage to peel it away from the stem.
Sheldon "Next, Nuclear Weapons..." Brown
--
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
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