I hear this again and again, but it's just not true. Threadless allows easy adjustment of bar height if the steerer isn't cut too short. That's the real problem - too short steerers. If you start with a full- length steerer, say 300 mm, and a typical 58 cm frame, you can generally get the bars at or above saddle height without having a severe up-angle stem, steerer extender, etc.
If it takes 1 minute to adjust the bar height with a quill stem, then it probably takes two minutes to do it with a threadless set-up, and requires the same tools (allen wrench(es)). Most likely, you won't have to do it too many times, so the extra minutes don't add up to much. Benefits of threadless to the end-user are: easy handlebar/stem swaps later (no need to peel bar tape or remove levers), added stiffness (an issue with heavily loaded bikes and bikes that ride on rough terrain), and I suppose it's lighter (not that I care). Also, headset bearing adjustment is easier and requires simpler tools with threadless. Benefit to bike shops and manufacturers: No need to manufacture/stock 8 different forks for 8 different frame sizes. I own/ride a bunch of bikes, and a lot of them have quill stems, which is fine. But I personally would not select a quill stem over threadless if there was an option. On Dec 11, 3:42 pm, James Warren <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't agree that threadless is demonstrably better. For me, the benefits of > easy bar height adjustability outweighs all the other stuff combined. > > A less signficant, but still real, thing that the quill offers is a good > place to attach the type of bell I like to use. > > -Jim W. > > -----Original Message----- > >From: Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery <[email protected]> > >Well, having a special run of parts made is more difficult than using > >something that is already available with probably 100 variants from > >which to choose. And if the modern, widely available version is > >demonstrably an improvement over the antiquated version that requires > >a special production run, then the question becomes: why bother? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
