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Displacement is virtually identical between the stem with and without hole, which seems to indicate it doesn't make too much of a difference
It doesn't make much difference to overall stiffness, but drilling holes in things usually creates stress concentrations at which fatigue cracks initiate. Plenty of people have done it before, and not many of them seem to have died from it. I have a 12cm Cinelli 2A with a tapped hole in the top to mount a computer, and it's showing no signs of ill effects some 25 years on, although that's in very light road use. The people who usually drilled their stems were cyclo-crossers, who obviously gave them a much harder time than I ever did, and they are still doing it:
That doesn't make it right. The correct attachment location for the cable stop if you still insist on using cantilever brakes (and seriously? It's nearly 2015, get over it) is the fork crown.
gbj_tester-
It doesn't make much difference to overall stiffness [...] The people who usually drilled their stems were cyclo-crossers, who obviously gave them a much harder time than I ever did, and they are still doing it: ...if you still insist on using cantilever brakes (and seriously? It's nearly 2015, get over it) is the fork crown
Thanks for that.
Disc have been considered. But they don't please me on other levels than efficiency. Fork dimensions / rake have been drawn using OTP disc forks (several of them, XC ones and touring ones...) meaning that I have the option to have front disc brakes if I decided to, and the strategy for brazed on cable stops have been decided so that if I put V-brakes at the back (which I'm assuming are more powerful - seat stays are beefy with that in mind) there would be no unused braze on bits remaining.But point taken, insisting on cantis is dated. I've got very strong hands, I'll be fine...
veLLo
I quickly modeled it in Solidworks and ran some simulations:
http://imgur.com/a/I37y4
Displacement is virtually identical between the stem with and without hole, which seems to indicate it doesn't make too much of a difference. Keep in mind this is a rough model and more importantly I'm a designer who happens to know Solidworks and not an engineer. Someone with actual knowledge about this should probably chime in. @mdcc_tester perhaps?