Hi all, I’m looking for some help removing the quill stem on my commuter/city bike.
The problem is that when I loosen the top (lock) nut until it is free of the threads it doesn’t have enough room to let the bottom nut come high enough to come off the threads. Essentially the lock nut gets blocked on the curved part of the stem, and the bottom nut (while loose) won’t come fully off. When loosened as much as I can there is quite a bit of play in the stem (from both top and bottom) but I can’t actually remove the stem. I have already removed the long bolt under the small plastic cap shown in the photos right behind the handlebar angle adjustment.
The reason I am trying to remove it is because I have a creaking that I’ve narrowed down to either the crank or the front stem, and so I figured I would take both apart, clean everything, and regrease the necessary components.
Please forgive my ignorance if this is a silly question. I’m new to using a bike as my main mode of transport (and bike maintenance is expensive here in Germany) so I’m trying to learn as I go. I should also add that I will replace the bottom nut when it comes off. It’s beat up, but still turns without issue, and I’ve gone and bought the right size wrenches now 😉
What should be my next step to fully removing the stem? TIA for any help you can provide!
by Pinedale7205
4 Comments
so the long bolt you took out, when its installed theres a wedge at the bottom. its probably still in there, stuck. put the bolt back in, hopefully it threads back in. while the bolt is still loose, tap it with a mallet to dislodge the wedge. you should then be able to remove the stem.
https://preview.redd.it/teu1d8k6byug1.jpeg?width=1100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7eefb06d7a262deffcbf28cf6409636f12887908
You usually leave the wedge nut on the bottom of the stem bolt, but loose, and just pull the bars up and out of the fork. If someone knows this specific stem, please correct me.
Awsosme, thanks. I will try that. I can confirm the bolt goes back in, I put it together to ride it in the meantime.
If i understand correctly then, the wedge and bolt don’t need to be fully separated, only loosened, allowing the stem to come out, and further allowing me to remove the 2 nuts off of the threaded portion. Is that right?
As commented below about the need to re-install the long bolt in order to knock the wedge free. Thread it all the way back in, then loosen it a few turns only, maybe 3 whole rotations. The bolt will still be recessed so you’ll probably need to keep the 6mm Allen key in the bolt head and hit the top of the Allen key with a mallet/hammer to break the wedge free. You should then be able to remove the stem.
Quite often though the creaking will come from the angle adjustment assembly of this type of stem, try stripping it down first and greasing all of the surfaces before removing the stem from the fork as above. When re assembling, the first bolt to tighten (if present) is the one that tightens a serrated wedge on the underside of the stem, bolt 1 in this diagram:
After this tighten the side angle rotation bolt 2. Some stems don’t have bolt 1, in which case just tighten bolt 2. Usually only one side of bolt 2 will turn.