Hi there – I took my handlebars off (Vision metron 5D) to remove some spacers. When I put them back on and went to tighten the stem cap on, the bolt that connects in to the expander within snapped, and now the expander is stuck in the stem – seemingly on an angle
Not sure how this happened as I was using a torque wrench.
Any ideas as to how to fix? No obvious damage to the handlebars – am hoping I can take this to my LBS to get the piece removed and then replace the bolt, but would appreciate some thoughts before hand.
Thanks
Images here: https://imgur.com/a/CvtHynk
by eekelmo_
1 Comment
Sorry, I’m confused, but how is the expander stuck in the stem? Shouldn’t it be stuck in the steerer tube? The stem clamp diameter is quite larger than the steerer tube… and the steerer tube would be larger in diameter than the expander plug. It should just slide right out of the “stem,” if it’s not stuck in the steerer tube. I’m confused how it can be stuck in the “integrated stem.” From the photo, it looks like it’s stuck in the steerer tube, which would be the fork.
Any how, thread the bolt back into the expander plug and give the top of the bolt a tap with a mallet, preferable a rubber mallet just in case you miss and hit the carbon steerer…but that shouldn’t really happen if you just eye it and measure a couple times before giving it a tap, so any mallet or hammer will do. If it doesn’t release, give it a firmer tap. What’s happened, and from what I can tell from the photo, the bottom of the expander plug is still wedged at the bottom, wedged into the expander sheath/piece and threading the bolt back in and whacking it will cause the bottom piece to dislodge from the sheath/part that actually expands.