Problem with Threaded Headset

captainbeefheart

Hello

I've been given an old frame and I'm having some problems removing an old threaded headset.

I have unscrewed the long screw in bit that goes into the stem. I thought the next step was to try and remove the locknut but this does not budge. I have tried banging the top of the stem with a mallet to free it as heard this may help.

Also the long screw (apologies for lack of using correct terms) does not now screw back into the stem which I found a tad confusing.

Any help gratefully received.

alfablue

On the second point, if you have completely removed the long bolt, the wedge it screws into may have dropped down in the head tube. You will have to take the stem out to retrieve it and fit it loosely to the bolt before reinserting.

geoff_ss

Are you saying the handlebar extension is stuck in the steerer?

If the centre bolt has been slackened and you've freed the cone by tapping the bolt down then it means the aluminium has corroded and is stuck. The first thing to try is to get some penetrating oil (Plus gas) down the stem. That could take some time.

If that doesn't work then the only option is to sacrifice the stem. Saw it off so that you can remove the forks then it's a simple matter to use a brazing torch to melt the remains of the stem out of the steel steerer tube. That's happened to me a couple of times. The first time Norman Taylor (Jack's brother) did it on our tandem when we took it in for re-enamelling. I did it myself the second time on a single Works a treat with no serious damage to expensive bits.

Geoff

captainbeefheart

Thanks for the advice so far

It's a old skool stem like this:



Would be a shame to have to plus gas or mess about with a torch it is there any other options as I'm not ruling out the fact that I'm just being dumb?

geoff_ss

captainbeefheart wrote:

Thanks for the advice so far

It's a old skool stem like this:



Would be a shame to have to plus gas or mess about with a torch it is there any other options as I'm not ruling out the fact that I'm just being dumb?

Plus Gas is penetrating fluid. It's not intended to be flammable - though I haven't actually tried Try to get some down between the stem and the steerer tube and leave it to penetrate for a day or two. It sometimes works. Failing that, it's the hacksaw and brazing torch. I assume what I call normal extensions are still available. Or has the dreaded Ahead set completely taken over?

Geoff

Geoff

meagain

Or has the dreaded Ahead set completely taken over?

No - but it should! Aheads being IMO one of the most sensible and useful tech innovations in bicycle design in last 50 years!

OP: is it the stem or the headset with which you are having difficulty (or indeed both!)? If the stem is seized in the steerer tube, then plus gas best first option. If the long fixing bolt has come out, then the slug into which it screws might well also be seized in place even after the stem comes free - this can usually be beaten out with a long bar/hammer.