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Old April 13th 19, 02:32 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
AMuzi
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Posts: 13,447
Default A hole in the stem

On 4/13/2019 5:58 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, April 12, 2019 at 11:15:09 PM UTC-4, Joy Beeson wrote:
I don't recall whether my handlebars came with the Raleigh Carleton or
the Fugi Grand Tourer -- we swapped components rather suddenly when a
mechanic overhauling the Raleigh found a defect in the brake bridge
that was above his pay grade. I don't think I ever knew whether the
handlebars and stems were included in the swap; we just left both
bikes with the mechanic.

It says "GB" in a circle in a recessed diamond on the stem.

Just above the point of the diamond, an adjusting barrel for the front
brake cable is set in the top of a hole through the stem.

I read somewhere that drilling a hole through the stem is a terrible,
horrible idea, and it makes sense that one should avoid weakening such
a vital component, but it's a tempting idea: It looks neater, it
makes the path of the cable slightly smoother, and it makes the cable
a more convenient place to hang my gloves.

So as long as the hole is there I might as well use it, but the
mechanic at the Trailhouse routes the cable around the stem, as if
there were no hole.

I'm going to have the bike overhauled pretty soon, and I'm thinking of
telling him to use the hole -- but is there some *other* reason why
routing a brale cable through the stem is a bad idea?

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGESEW/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.


If you want to raise or lower a stem with a hole in it to which the front brake cable is anchored then you'd have to adjust the brakes too as lower the stem will move the pads away from the rim and raising the stem will move the pads closer to the rim.



Back when that was the standard setup on MTBs, we saw that
as a feature, not a problem.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971


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