Quill Stem problem

Andrew Clark said:

Off on a short tour this Friday which means bagging the bike. I decided to
check that I was OK to rotate the bars (new cables). No problem, cables are
long enough.

Problem, when I go to tighten the stem up the expanding wedge won't engage.
Take it out of the bike, clean it, check the threads are OK and put it back.
Same problem, the allen bolt just keeps rotating! It tightens up OK off the
bike though....

Stem is a Nitto (Shimano Ultegra at a 1/3 of the price) I've had it for
about 4 years and it's seen plenty of rough stuff, always been rock solid.

Can anyone suggest what's gone wrong and how I can fix it ?

Luckily I've got an old stem in the parts box which does tighten properly,
however it's a Cinelli with a 26.4 clamp. The 3TTT Morphe bars are specced
at 25.8 and the Nitto is 26:00.

I've got some Cinelli bars as well but would prefer to keep the 3TTT's on.
Am I heading for facial reconstruction if I use this combination?

Thanks

Andrew

If the bolt truly just spins when installing it, then I would surmise
that you putting it in with the bolt too loose, which would allow the
wedge to spin below stem.

Andrew Clark said:

Off on a short tour this Friday which means bagging the bike. I decided to
check that I was OK to rotate the bars (new cables). No problem, cables are
long enough.

Problem, when I go to tighten the stem up the expanding wedge won't engage.
Take it out of the bike, clean it, check the threads are OK and put it back.
Same problem, the allen bolt just keeps rotating! It tightens up OK off the
bike though....

Stem is a Nitto (Shimano Ultegra at a 1/3 of the price) I've had it for
about 4 years and it's seen plenty of rough stuff, always been rock solid.

Can anyone suggest what's gone wrong and how I can fix it ?

Luckily I've got an old stem in the parts box which does tighten properly,
however it's a Cinelli with a 26.4 clamp. The 3TTT Morphe bars are specced
at 25.8 and the Nitto is 26:00.

I've got some Cinelli bars as well but would prefer to keep the 3TTT's on.
Am I heading for facial reconstruction if I use this combination?

Thanks

Andrew

If the bolt truly just spins when installing it, then I would surmise
that you putting it in with the bolt too loose, which would allow the
wedge to spin below stem.

Andrew Clark said:

Off on a short tour this Friday which means bagging the bike. I decided to
check that I was OK to rotate the bars (new cables). No problem, cables are
long enough.

Problem, when I go to tighten the stem up the expanding wedge won't engage.
Take it out of the bike, clean it, check the threads are OK and put it back.
Same problem, the allen bolt just keeps rotating! It tightens up OK off the
bike though....

How many turns did you loosen it?

There's a possibility that the threads are stripped in a manner that
allows them to slip when the bolt starts to get tight. Such damage
should be obvious on visual inspection if you know what to look for.

Quoted message said:

Luckily I've got an old stem in the parts box which does tighten properly,
however it's a Cinelli with a 26.4 clamp. The 3TTT Morphe bars are specced
at 25.8 and the Nitto is 26:00.

I've got some Cinelli bars as well but would prefer to keep the 3TTT's on.
Am I heading for facial reconstruction if I use this combination?

Use a piece of soda can for a shim and you should be ablt to get them
to tighten down OK.
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It could be that the wedge part is too low in the stem to start the wedging
action. Snugging up the bolt before you insert the stem, or pulling up on the
center bolt as you start to turn it might correct your problem.

HTH,
Ernie

Andrew Clark said:

Off on a short tour this Friday which means bagging the bike. I decided to
check that I was OK to rotate the bars (new cables). No problem, cables are
long enough.

Problem, when I go to tighten the stem up the expanding wedge won't engage.
Take it out of the bike, clean it, check the threads are OK and put it back.
Same problem, the allen bolt just keeps rotating! It tightens up OK off the
bike though....

Stem is a Nitto (Shimano Ultegra at a 1/3 of the price) I've had it for
about 4 years and it's seen plenty of rough stuff, always been rock solid.

Can anyone suggest what's gone wrong and how I can fix it ?

Luckily I've got an old stem in the parts box which does tighten properly,
however it's a Cinelli with a 26.4 clamp. The 3TTT Morphe bars are specced
at 25.8 and the Nitto is 26:00.

I've got some Cinelli bars as well but would prefer to keep the 3TTT's on.
Am I heading for facial reconstruction if I use this combination?

Thanks

Andrew