Can you cut down the height of a quill stem?

I can't see why not as long as there is enough stem in the steerer. Has anyone done this before?

No offence, but why on earth would you want to do this? Unless you're riding a frame with an extremely small headtube, there is no way that your stem can be too long...

If you get the angle wrong, the wedge will be offline and push out the fork unevenly. Don't bother.

I can't the stem in deep enough in the steerer. Its as if the steerer is butted quite far up.

I'd probably just buy a new stem. If there's a lot of height protruding and you have to chop a fair amount off the stem, you'll end up with the bolt sticking up, as there won't be enough thread on the end for it to sit properly.

I don't know if that makes sense - it's hard to explain without pictures.

(EDIT - it's not an older French bike, is it? If so, the steerer will be .2mm narrower than an inch, hence your issues)

You can get shorter bolts for that case turpe.

Yeah, the bolt isnt really an issue. Its not a french bike, its a Barron road frame, which i'm building for my gf. The steerer is just under 14cm long but i can only get about 8 cm of the stem into it.

At first i thought the steerer might be bent, but thats not the case either.

Quite annoying.

hippy You can get shorter bolts for that case turpe.
Fair point, well made.

maybe a vice and pipe cutter. jonny did some bars for me while i tried to hold them and it was still dead on.

skoota maybe a vice and pipe cutter. jonny did some bars for me while i tried to hold them and it was still dead on.

Have you got a pipe cutter that will do a 45 degree angle? :)

To the OP - they can be cut down but you need to get the angle dead on. I'd try and work out what's causing the blockage first.

Sometimes the stem gets thicker towards the top. For this reason some people file away metal to get it lower but thats usually just an inch or so.

Are you sure the stem needs to be right down. Your girlfriend may require the stem to be an inch or so out. Most stems are not usually full inserted up to the angle. Finish building the bike and check the setup, get her to ride around a bit, it may already be fine. If she requires the stem to be dropped a bit more it would be easier to buy a new stem.

The stem is one of those that have a slit down the middle and a "plug" that opens it up when tightened - so the cutting should be simpler.

With regards to not inserting the stem too far down, only half of it goes into the steerer so about 700mm sticks out - way too much.

Any ideas what could be causing a blockage on the steerer? I've looked into it and nothing, cleaned it, etc. Its as if the steerer funnels down in the inside. I thought it could be the butting.

Do you think the plug bit may be catching on something, jamming then riding up as you insert the stem? Just a thought. Make sure the stem bolt does not rise up as you insert the stem. Like I said just a thought.

Also take a long screw driver and poke it down the steer tube running it along the inside at different points around the steer tube. By doing this you should be able to feel any imperfections plus you should beable to feel any butting on the inside of the tube. However I have not herd of butting on the base of the steer tube such as would be needed.

Try inserting another stem that way you can work out if it is the stem or the forks.

take the forks out and try to slot the stem into them without the frame, you'll be abale to see better, if they don't go in then i reckon turpe could be right about the girth.
@momentum
no i havent got a 45 degree pipe cutter, (didnt think of that) but as silver mentioned its not an angled stem so he could get lucky?

If it's an extralong technomic stem (as in the photo above), sell the f**ker on ebay - you'll get enough to buy a replacement with, they're not readily available in the UK.

I would cut to reduce weight off the bike!!!

Light is right!

Roberto £€$ I would cut to reduce weight off the bike!!!
Light is right!

And steel is real! :) it's so beautiful when the light is right! and steel is real! meets in harmony.. sigh :)

I'd be interested to know how you got on. I have the same problem trying to put some new gt forks on my old BSA frame, there seems to be a blockage in the steerer which makes the stem jut out about 40mm above the 'max' level. There's plenty of stem in there though, but I wouldn't want to go far on it.

i did cut the stem. and also cut a slit 40mm along it where it should widen when you tighten the plug. but what i didn't realise was that now i'll need a new stem bolt with threading that goes further up. also realised that the stem tubing gets thicker the closer it gets to where it bends, so it'll be harder for it to open up when tight.

meanwhile i came across a stem with a much smaller height which goes in enough but is too long.

i think the issue is that its a custom built frame and the steerer is designed for quite low stems so the tubbing thickens from when its 50mm away from the fork.

anyway, i'm now hoping to get a stem with a very low maximum height (less than 40mm) and only around 60mm length.

complicated.

Hi everyone. I just found this board after a google search "cutting quill". Today I cut a quill down on a bicycle I'm fixing up for my 12 year old great niece. The quill was extra long and with the seat lowered to fit her, the bars were still too high with the quill lowered as low as it would go. After measuring how much to cut, I started with a square cut at the new overall length. Using the cut-off section as a template, I layed out the new angled cut line. The angle was steeper than 45 degrees. Using a cut-off wheel in a 4 1/2" angle grinder, I made the cut. After changing out to a flapper disk, I fine tuned the angle to match the wedge. Holding the cut off stub against the new cut, I continued shaping the new cut until the run was straight. I hope this helps anyone wishing to cut down this type of quill.[SIZE=4][SIZE=4]
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I wish I could edit my post. I meant quill stem. Also I would have changed layed out to laid out. I'm blaming it on old age.

i also just did the same.... i wanted my stem to be as low as a nitto jaguar (without the obnoxious angle) however my bolt wasnt threaded fully so the wedge wouldnt tighten enough once all the extra length was cut down.... but luckily i just went to my local hardware shop that stocks hard to find bolts and nuts.. got a shorter replacement... and was ready to go!

Is it entirely possible to get a quill stem that is quite short before resorting to cutting one down to fit?

this is the max I can lower it to before it hit the wedge.