Stem Change

The OE 110 stem

Today I changed the stem of my Red Roadie. It initially came with a 110 mm stem. I thought the reach was too far. So, I got a new Merida stem in 90 mm size. Two centimetres can make a lot of difference to riding comfort. I am yet to ride with the new stem. Let me it check out.

I procured it from a guy in Bangalore called Venkatesh Shivarama. He owns a cycling store called Wheel Sports. It cost me Rs 1500. Extreme Adventures quoted me a price of Rs 3000. I am sure that material is different. Though they said it is not carbon but alloy only.

The decal on the new stem is a little different. Otherwise fitting size is same. There is no need to remove or add spacers.

I spoke to Someswar about the fitting. He explained it is nothing difficult and asked me to try and promised he would fix it if something went wrong. So I did, and something did indeed go wrong. The central bolt was tightened so strongly that everything inside came off when I unbolted it. It's somewhat similar to when you try to unscrew the cap of a fountain pen and it comes out with the nib still fitted inside.

The OE stem came off fine but I could not fit it back on.

Someswar, who had a delivery to make in Jadavpur for a new bike was coming to this side of the town in any case. He turned the bike upside down and out came several small bits and pieces. He reassembled the whole thing and fitted it back. I asked him not to tighten the bolts too much as I would like to fine tune the angle of the handle.

He checked the bike for wheel balance and found it was not true. He did some tightening of the spokes. The wheels are quite true now. This is an art you have to master from experience.

He also tightened the cable of the gear.