by Igor
The
VO Removable Faceplate Quill Stems have finally arrived! In case you missed previous blog posts about them, they're designed for 1" threaded steerers and have 31.8mm handlebar compatibility. No longer do you need to undo your beautiful bar wrap to change stems, and no more scratching brand new bars snaking them through the stem's clamp. Additionally, you can now use any and all weird alt-bars that are available on the market. So put
Crazy Bars on your townie! Put
Far Bars on your vintage MTB for a weekend tour! Or simply put one on your travel bike for ease of packing. Go nuts, they're MTB rated ;)
They're available in three top-notch finishes to fit any build: Hi-Po Chrome, Noir, and Brushed Nickel. Lengths range from 80mm to 110mm in 10mm increments.
In addition to these stems, by popular demand, we made a
1" Threaded Steerer Adaptor for our
Cigne Stems. We'd suggest picking up a pair of 1" 5mm headset spacers to match your Cigne Stem and headset, otherwise you'll have a gap between the bottom of the stem and the top of the locknut.
For those of us with 1" headsets, the possibilities are now endless! What will you run?
Posts
9 comments:
You had me... right up until the 31.8mm handlebar clamp diameter compatibility. Given that most (if not all) handlebars for on-road riding have a 25.4mm or 26.0mm clamp diameter, I wonder if it is possible (and/or safe) to shim the missing 5.8mm-6.4mm gap.
Oof! I had not read the previous blog entry "A Discussion of Shims". Please disregard my previous comment (unless you want to use it as the basis for a gentle reminder to others).
Your choice. Nevertheless, I stand corrected.
What universe do you live in where all the offroad bars *AREN'T* 31.8?
jonathan: There are many, many options from many places for quill stems at 25.4mm or 26.0mm with removable faceplates, but almost none for 31.8mm stems with them. I had to search far and wide for the 90° Nitto UI-12, which can't even be raised as much as this stem.
I'm gonna have to be the sole voice disliking these stems-sorry. I think they look clunky and way outta proportion, and yes, looks are crucial for most VO buyers, or else we'd just buy QBP stuff. The bubble gum weld kills it for me and resembles a stem on a kids bike from you know what Mart. I'm a retrogrouch, but would go threadless instead just to avoid the style of this stem. Don't like the logo placement either.
VO seems to moving quickly away from level top tubes, classic frames, parts that aren't black, etc. Grant did this at Riv who now has almost bizarre offerings with double top tubes and expensive frames seemingly always posted with cruiser bars for upright riders going 7 mph. Guess I'm gonna stock up on the old stuff and find a decent repainter, cuz it's gonna get lonely for the retrogrouches like me who don't bikepack or want fat tires, disc brakes, and Noir colored parts........
@ Anon 10:16
Thanks for the feedback. We always welcome it and feel it is important to hear from all of our customer base.
Our audience is a wide and varied one and we want to have products to appeal to all. At Velo Orange, silver is the default finish. We haven't produced anything in an exclusively noir finish. We've always made it in silver first and then added a noir version to the line up if the demand is there. Looking back at new products for the past year or so, we've brought in new silver cantilever brakes, we've expanded our line up of Rustine brake hoods, revamped our traditional handlebar bag racks to be more adaptable and brought in a quill stem in three finishes to allow those folks with 1 inch threaded headsets to use different sized bars. Yes, we've added more noir products, but they are existing products. As to classic frames, the next gen polyvalent will still retain a 1 inch threaded headset. Yes, it will have disc brakes, but the idea is to retain that classic, level top tube look and traditional headset, while updating the brakes to a modern option that we've been asked to do by many customers.
Again, we do appreciate the feedback, but don't knock us out of contention for retro grouch products yet. We still have lots more stuff on the drawing board to come.
Scott
I like the stems. My VO order from three days ago just arrived at noon today. If I had waited a polished stem would be in the box.
I like this stem. I'm a big fan of wide, MTB bars, which are a dime a dozen with 31.8 clamp areas. I also like vintage and vintage-style bikes, which often have a 1" threaded steerer. This stem lets me easily combine the two without having to use a modern threadless stem with a quill adapter, which really looks out of proportion. This stem has beautiful proportions in comparison. I hope to pick up an RBW Hunqapillar next year and once I figure out the fit, this stem will likely be the one I purchase.
You guys seem to be very willing to listen to feedback. As one who loves the look of the VO Tall Stack Stem, mostly because it lacks the awkward looking pair of bolts on the back side, I would love to see a threadless stem adapter that has a longer 1-1/8 diameter section to allow the use of the Tall Stack Stem for conversions.
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