Huh, this is something I’ve never thought to ask. Commenting only so I remember to come back and get educated.
fruitjake on
I’m trying to think of some smart ass reply but not really cuming up with much… Maybe how components of the time had a decent split of black and silver and these type of stems just paired easily (aesthetically) with stuff?
WillBottomForBanana on
You’re supposed to roll it all the way down to the base.
in the 90’s and 2000’s there was just a lot more chrome and natural aluminum on bikes and components. i kind of miss it. all the mostly black bikes are boring.
theflamingheads on
Just the tip?
Apprehensive-End8440 on
One thing people maybe don’t recall is just how a big a thing faceplate stems were ! Legendary frame builder Carl Strong has called them one of the most game changing innovations over the past decades, up there with indexed shifting, suspension, and clipless pedals for road. Prior to that in order to swap and try a new stem for fitting or swap a bar it was a major deal. Everything had to come off the bar, likely even the control cables, the bar tape, probably the stem itself had to be loosened if the fit was tite, and you still had to wrangle the bars thru a complex series of back and forth wraslin’ which just might scar the shit out of your nice polished handlebar. It’s ok to do on a vintage bike for fun once in a while but for everyday use with lots of bikes and stuff It got old real fast. So just the sight of a faceplate on your stem was a relief haha. Maybe that’s it.
Secret_Squirrel100 on
I literally just bought this stem on eBay. I had it on my first ever road bike and was looking for a longer stem for my cross bike. I love the fact that it randomly has a silver piece, is diamond shaped, and only has 3 bolts on the front.
8 Comments
Huh, this is something I’ve never thought to ask. Commenting only so I remember to come back and get educated.
I’m trying to think of some smart ass reply but not really cuming up with much… Maybe how components of the time had a decent split of black and silver and these type of stems just paired easily (aesthetically) with stuff?
You’re supposed to roll it all the way down to the base.
You might recognize this style stem from this epic Martyn Ashton video from 2010 at 3:30 and 5:10 https://youtu.be/7ZmJtYaUTa0?si=MIS3ghbMH3G_Ygdj
Sad Martyn had a paralyzing back injury!
in the 90’s and 2000’s there was just a lot more chrome and natural aluminum on bikes and components. i kind of miss it. all the mostly black bikes are boring.
Just the tip?
One thing people maybe don’t recall is just how a big a thing faceplate stems were ! Legendary frame builder Carl Strong has called them one of the most game changing innovations over the past decades, up there with indexed shifting, suspension, and clipless pedals for road. Prior to that in order to swap and try a new stem for fitting or swap a bar it was a major deal. Everything had to come off the bar, likely even the control cables, the bar tape, probably the stem itself had to be loosened if the fit was tite, and you still had to wrangle the bars thru a complex series of back and forth wraslin’ which just might scar the shit out of your nice polished handlebar. It’s ok to do on a vintage bike for fun once in a while but for everyday use with lots of bikes and stuff It got old real fast. So just the sight of a faceplate on your stem was a relief haha. Maybe that’s it.
I literally just bought this stem on eBay. I had it on my first ever road bike and was looking for a longer stem for my cross bike. I love the fact that it randomly has a silver piece, is diamond shaped, and only has 3 bolts on the front.