Hi David, I have a 1974 Ken Rogers trike with a 3ttt stem that was drilled out for the brake cable. We did the dastardly deed 34 years ago and the stem is f ine. I'm still using the same brake cable too. I think that trike stems a re subjected to greater stresses than the stems on bikes so that should be an encouragement to you. As I recall, we made a small flat spot with a 6 " flat file, then made a mark with a center punch. After that we simply drilled a hole a wee bit larger than the brake cable diameter through the s tem with the stem mounted in the frame. The fellow with the drill kept the bit aligned with the tire center and I made sure that the fore and aft ali gnment brought the cable out the bottom in a line with the center pull brak e. All by eye and freehand. It works great.
Paul Patzkowsky
Longmont, Colorado > From: beandk@rcn.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelis
t.org> Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:44:35 -0500> Subject: [CR] Drilling stem
> > I lost a lowball auction for a 3TTT stem drilled for (and including) a>
centerpull brake adjuster. I like this idea and may try drilling one> myse
lf. Anyone have some tips? E.g. how best to clamp the stem on the> drill pr
ess, how to ensure the drill starts properly, whether the stem's> stren
gth might be impaired too much, etc...> > Thanks> > David Bean> Arlington
, MA USA> beandk at are-see-enn dot com> > ______________________________