stem

[runner]

The other day I broke my stem.

this never happened to me before.. did this happen to you?

now I have to wait untill tuesday to get my bike fixed!!

because today (queensday) all shops are closed..

[fredrikw]

broke the stem? that sounds pretty hard core, what did you do to break it?

[runner]

the strange thing is that i did not do anything just moved a bit left.

my steering weel was not straight and then when i tried to make it straight i broke it..

[pseudoprometheus]

That's bizarre ... given my limited knowledge of bicycle maintenance, I'd guess it was an underlying structural problem with the stem. I've seen pictures on here of steel frames cracking or flaking, so maybe something similar was happening, 'cept it wasn't on the outside?

*shrug*

[Dave Noisy]

I've had bolts and stem 'fronts' crack, but never the stem itself.. (Had to saw an old threaded stem in half once because it fused with my fork!)

[ha]

ive seen a few stems, face plates, bolts and bars crack.

given your wheel wasnt straight indicated your bike had been in an impact to make it bent..

i replace my stems every 2 years. i ride the syntace f99.

if in doubt, throw it out. im into recyclling sure, but not if it is dangerous to my cycling..

[pseudoprometheus]

if in doubt, throw it out. im into recyclling sure, but not if it is dangerous to my cycling..

*distracts from thread topic*

Hm, what about junkyards/scrap metal recycling, though? Er ... that is, unless you have a carbon bike stem. Haven't noticed how many made out of carbon or meta, but a Google search tells me that it's not rare.

[ha]

yeah the local recycling depot sees a lot of my bars and stems etc..i put big hacksaw marks thru em so nobody uses em and gets hurt.

all my fruit scraps go into bushes worldwide and bike parts to recycling depots.