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    had a crash and the handlebars went crooked, i can’t unscrew the bolt, what do i do?


    Was riding home late Thursday when I had a crash into a concrete barrier and it left my handlebars misaligned. I tried to unscrew the bolt yesterday with my allen wrench and it just wouldn't budge. What do I do now? I need it tomorrow and I don't feel very safe riding it like this.

    It's an old bike but was working pretty well, I just had it tuned up last week…

    by GemmTheCosmic

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    15 Comments

    1. sousstructures on

      The head of that bolt is toast. I’d just take it back to a shop so they can extract it for you and replace it with a new one, shouldn’t take long.

    2. My_friends_are_toys on

      Stand over the front wheel with it firmly between your knees/legs. Grasp the handle bar and move it until it’s straight. Making to to use your feet/heels to keep the bottom of the wheel unmovable.

    3. Decent_spinach69 on

      Stand in front of the bike with the wheel braced between your legs. Grab the handlebars and give a firm twist in the direction to straighten them out. 

      Alternately go get the proper Allen key in order to loosen the headset bolt. might be Loctite holding the bolt in place but that’s not an impossible thing to crack. 

    4. wendorio on

      What I used to do in similar situation is stand in front of bike, hold wheel between my legs, take handlebars in my hands and just quick turn handlebars back straight

    6. ChingLuong on

      Sit on the seat and grab the handle bar like your riding it and push the wheel abating the side of your house to align it.

    7. Sensei19600 on

      Re-do the crash,only in reverse. It’ll go right back to where it was, pre-crash.
      You’re welcome.

    11. dunncrew on

      Are you turning the bolt counter clockwise? It can be tight. If it loosens, only turn it 1 or 2 revolutions, then give it a light tap to loosen the wedge inside.

    12. brilliantNumberOne on

      Is the problem that the stem bolt is seized or that it is spinning endlessly? Or maybe that the hex head of the bolt is rounded off?

      If it’s spinning but wont loosen, tighten it back up, then loosen it a little bit. Put an allen key in the bolt and give the allen key a solid whack with a hammer. The bolt draws up a wedge that expands against the side of the for steerer tube, so if you have the bolt partially threaded you can dislodge the wedge.

      If the bolt is rounded off, get in there with a fine pick or knife and try and clean out as much dirt as you can to allow you to insert the allen key farther down.

      If it won’t budge, try and drip some oil/WD-40/PB Blaster/whatever you have around the head of the bolt and let it soak for a bit. Get the allen key as firmly seated as you can, and use a pipe or something for extra leverage – this will work best if you have an L-shaped allen key.

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