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    Found a really cool old Cinelli frame 2nd hand, but there’s a broken stem stuck in it. Any tips for pulling the stem out, before i risk it and buy it?

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    25 Comments

    1. ttofft on

      Current owner don’t say much about it, but he says it should be doable to take off the front brake, screw the headset off and then knock it out, im just unsure about buying, since i don’t really see the fix as being easy. Any tips would be greatly appreciated

    2. meh_blade on

      you should be able to just unscrew the head stack from the fork, and it will all come out. then you can put the piece in a vice and get it from there

    3. Chillydunlap99 on

      It’s worth taking the fork out of the frame and see if you can get it out. I wouldn’t try anything drastic with it on the frame. Worst case you go find another fork if the rest of the frame is good. Assuming it’s cheap enough??

    4. AliensVSCryptids on

      Here’s what I would do in the shop. First you need access to a good heavy vice that is screwed down to a heavy table. Take off the wheels and put the bike upside down in the vice with the stem clamped down hard. Spray some penetrating lube like WD-40 in there and loosen the nuts around the stem and slowly wiggle the whole bike back-and-forth in the vice to loosen the stem and it should probably come out if not hit it for a few seconds with a torch and repeat

    5. Feisty_Park1424 on

      If it’s stuck enough that someone cut it off most likely it won’t pull or twist out. I machine them out on a mill and it is possible to drill them out with a hand drill. Unless you’ve already got 13, 18, 20, 22mm drill bits a good drill and a steady hand you’d be better dissolving the stem in Sodium Hydroxide

    6. knispler on

      These quill stems usually have a conical bottom piece that wedges on the sides by tightening the screw on top. This can bond with the fork over time. So my first idea would be to spray penetrating oil into it and find a fitting long screw which you screw into the wedge piece (I don’t know if that’s the correct term). Then you hammer on top of the screw to push the wedge piece further down. Once it’s unstuck, you should be able to pull out the stem stump. 
      If that doesn’t work, drill a hole sideways in the stem stump and insert a long shaft with which you can try to rotate the stump. 
      Of course, repeating the first idea for some days before you go for the second option. 

    7. Silvergreylion on

      I have a similar problem, though I haven’t cut the stem (yet).

      I loosened the screw, and I have been hammering away at it (downwards), but it hasn’t budged. The bicycle was sitting outside for years, before someone donated it to me.

      The alignment isn’t awful, so I am considering just selling it after I replaced the saddle.

      I was thinking I could hammer it more effectively after cutting the stem, but if this needs machining, selling it might be the better choice.

    8. AfraidOfTheSun on

      Depends on price? Looks like the frame (or paint at least) overall is not in the best shape? It also depends how handy you are, what tools you have, I would probably try to put some acetone + atf in to the steerer tube and let it soak, twist the stem out with a bench vise or pipe wrench, then tap the wedge out with a punch, or use a long stem bolt to try and wiggle it loose

    9. jort_catalog on

      Are you sure it’s a Cinelli? The paint sucks, which would be unlike Cinelli

    10. DowntownGeorge on

      Im assuming you dont have a workshop. Remove the head stack.. Soak the stem in WD40 or something similar over night for orfor a couple of ours. If you have a grip tool, polygrip or something, now see if you can twist the stem and get it out.

      If that doesent work. Remove the fork. And get a round wood stick and try to tap it out from below with a hammer (hammering the stick). If that doesent work use a iron bar intead of wood, but be careful not to damage the frame.

      Also search youtube for stuck stem removal, im sure there are plenty of videos out there.

    11. theyfley on

      I had a similaire problem, the quill was aluminium so I just used a lye bath to dissolve it.

    12. zmudshark on

      Just because it has a Cinelli decal doesn’t mean it’s a Cinelli. I don’t think it is. That stem will be difficult to impossible to remove with ruining the frame/fork.
      I would pass.

    13. espressocycle on

      I would assume someone has already tried and failed. Theoretically you could attack it from the bottom with a carriage bolt and a hammer.

    14. erotic_tweet on

      yeah its a red flag for sure, you’ll need to drop the fork and spend a lot of energy for a maybe. I would probably pass on it.

    15. Chib on

      After 2 days of WD40 followed by another 4 of repeated penetrating oil applications, blasting with a heatgun, and hammering the whole thing from both sides with zero respect for not denting the crap out of everything in my hammer’s way…

      I put it all back together and told my daughter I couldn’t adjust the handlebars up so deal with it. 😎

      Clearly you don’t have that option, so the least I can do is point you to the video that convinced me I’d done everything I could since the next step involved doing what your bike’s previous owner did and then going at it with a hacksaw:
      [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GRbdnTRH-4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GRbdnTRH-4)

    17. pappaburgundy on

      Saw a tractor remove a seatpost last week. Hopefully it doesn’t get to that but

    18. BobDrifter on

      You can always remove the fork from the frame, and remove the brake caliper. From there you should be able to stick a wooden dowel into the fork from below and use a mallet to beat the stem out. Just be sure you’re holding the fork in your hand or using soft jaws in a vise for the steerer.

    19. ttofft on

      Oh wow, thank you all for your responses! I think, from all the different input, i have to admit that this is a bit too much work for me, unfortunately. For those curios, heres the listing (its in Danish though, https://www.dba.dk/recommerce/forsale/item/22551074)

      The price is 168usd. Price is good, but im not enough of a mechanic for it haha

    20. owlpellet on

      I think you’re going to paint a new fork orange. Possibly white or navy blue. 

    21. stasigoreng on

      The main issue is: the stem is stuck and you won’t know what the condition of the forks steerer might be. If it is fucked it will almost be impossible to find matching fork

    22. Meaning_Wide on

      I’ve never seen a TIG welded or uni-crown cinelli. The paint was done by a two year old. This looks like a decal on a random frame.

    23. SimilarAlps3873 on

      If you just want the frame and not the fork you could buy it and get it out with an angle grinder

    24. thetable123 on

      If the price was right, I might go at it with gallium embrittlement just out of curiosity. That stem isn’t coming out the normal way.

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