How to remove a handlebar stem?

[TomK]

Sounds like the alloy stem and the steel forks have bonded together . This is due to a lack of copper or silver slip or even plain grease to stop the chemical recation between the two different metals .
The only way to break the bond is heat or cutting the stem out.

Geez, no wonder you guys drive on the wrong side of the road.....

Extraction Is usually accomplished by using a penetrating oil around the base of the stem. letting it sit around for an hour or so and using a wooden mallet sticking it in such a manner as to turn it. Once the operation is started it still may not be easy but it will come free. Use a fine grit emery cloth to clean the inside of the steering tube out

A modern fix is to buy a threaded-threadless converter and then you have a very large choice of off-road or road stems at reasonable prices.

[531colin]

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=16716
A lot of the advice on the linked thread (about stuck seatposts) applies equally to stuck stems....ie alloy/steel corrosion

[Brucey]

Geez, no wonder you guys drive on the wrong side of the road.....

Extraction Is usually accomplished by using a penetrating oil around the base of the stem. letting it sit around for an hour or so and using a wooden mallet sticking it in such a manner as to turn it. Once the operation is started it still may not be easy but it will come free. Use a fine grit emery cloth to clean the inside of the steering tube out
.

all very droll. By any chance do you live in dry climate? Its worth trying of course but if properly corroded UK parts are treated thus, they might come out as soon as a week or two, but more likely never.

cheers

[fastpedaller]

Do I recall caustic soda? being used as an easy way to destroy the alloy stem but leave the steel intact (in the seatpost extraction talk)

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Geez, no wonder you guys drive on the wrong side of the road.....

Extraction Is usually accomplished by using a penetrating oil around the base of the stem. letting it sit around for an hour or so and using a wooden mallet sticking it in such a manner as to turn it. Once the operation is started it still may not be easy but it will come free. Use a fine grit emery cloth to clean the inside of the steering tube out
.

all very droll. By any chance do you live in dry climate? Its worth trying of course but if properly corroded UK parts are treated thus, they might come out as soon as a week or two, but more likely never.

cheers

You got there before me!
Reality working as a mechanic means that sometimes even my £14 sledgehammer did not shift those seized parts.
corrosion normally expands the part to go from a sliding fit to a drive/press fit.
and even if you pressed the part, damage to the parts that were never designed for such, deforms is most likely.
any lubricating penetrating agent only lubricates at best, and whilst this is desirable In this situation, it doesn't eat the corrosion.
if you get the parts apart to see how much effort is needed to remove the corrosion.

[Mick F]

......... my £14 sledgehammer ............

That's a reasonably priced sledgehammer.

Yes, I know you use dictation to type. Never trust a machine that thinks for itself.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

......... my £14 sledgehammer ............

That's a reasonably priced sledgehammer.

Yes, I know you use dictation to type. Never trust a machine that thinks for itself.

Yep, you know what I mean, I might also of bought it some time ago, probably was £ 14 when I bought it 30 years ago.
14lb is a bit heavy sometimes, a 12 & 10 has its uses, picked up a head of a 10 I think the other day just need a handle.
Your getting pedantic again Mick
I prefer to make my own mistakes on the key board like I am now.
I got very lazy on the bike to save time last week on the coast ride.
The dictation on the Iphone sometimes gets it just right, but I find first thing in the morning my growl is much misinterpreted, auto complete / correction/ phrase isn't like in all those mission impossible films

[bagpussctc]

Sounds like the alloy stem and the steel forks have bonded together . This is due to a lack of copper or silver slip or even plain grease to stop the chemical recation between the two different metals .
The only way to break the bond is heat or cutting the stem out.

Geez, no wonder you guys drive on the wrong side of the road.....

Extraction Is usually accomplished by using a penetrating oil around the base of the stem. letting it sit around for an hour or so and using a wooden mallet sticking it in such a manner as to turn it. Once the operation is started it still may not be easy but it will come free. Use a fine grit emery cloth to clean the inside of the steering tube out

It is called electrolytic corrosion . Unless you are lucky no amount of force will split the two different metals if they have been together for a long time. It can be as strong as a weld.

https://www.assda.asn.au/technical-info ... -corrosion.
Park tools web site .Even they say sometimes stems or posts will not move.
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-he ... -and-stems

Drive on the wrong side of the road? and to think I spent years looking for a right hand sided bicycle.