Hello everyone! I’m almost finished building my bike (viribus womens cruiser) but for the life of me I CANNOT get the handlebar in correctly. The nut that’s supposed to be inserted at the bottom refuses to go inside, and because of that I can’t fix the steering on my bike. Does anyone have advice on how to get it in? Not even Craigslist browsers want to help me.
by Soggy-writer78
3 Comments
It’s not supposed to go inside, it should ride up against the steering tube:
https://preview.redd.it/s94irvkark4d1.png?width=1262&format=png&auto=webp&s=d6b8dc2823090d353a8897eff7eaa89650d0c73d
Image from ParkTool: [https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/repair-help/stem-removal-installation-quill-stems](https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/repair-help/stem-removal-installation-quill-stems)
That angled wedge (D) (it’s not actually a nut) doesn’t go inside the stem (A). Its angle slides against the stem angle and wedge-locks everything inside your steerer tube (B) on your fork. Do you have the long bolt (C) that runs vertically down the stem? That one pulls the wedge up against the stem and tightens everything when it’s inserted into the fork steerer tube.
If you search bike threaded stem cross section on google images you can see how it’s supposed to sit.
https://preview.redd.it/sa0w0x1xrk4d1.jpeg?width=1100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a338ed378ee6882a1d3b9849800ab028b62111b2
The “nut” is an expander wedge. It does not go inside the stem. When properly installed, it looks like this:
https://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/355800037_270f3bccb9.jpg