Stem Snapped, help?

My stem snapped today, luckily the long bolt held the two pieces in place so my bars stayed on and I didnt face plant my frame.

Anyway, I took the bolt that hold the stem in place out now and the bottom bit is still in the headtube. Ive tried using your average plyers but there just isnt enough grip as the thing is pretty stuck in there. Need help on ways i can get it out.

P.S. I dont have a vice and i really really dont want to remove the headset as its just recently been properly fitted.

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2711/dsc0421.jpg

stupid question about the bolts, anyhow what happen to the.. thing that tighten the stem in the fork?

stupid question about the bolts, anyhow what happen to the.. thing that tighten the stem in the fork?

that thing that tightened the stem is the bolt that i was referring to......

the long bolt didnt snap thats what kept the stem from falling apart and me being able to ride on

not the bolt! the extra piece of metal under the stem.

not the bolt! the extra piece of metal under the stem.

its just somewhere squashed inside the headtube

that what I meant, it sound like it's lodged stuck, unless it's already loose?

Put the bolt back in to the stem and hit the head of the bolt with a hammer to free the wedge. Without doing this your stem is going nowhere. Now get some pipe grips on the bit of the stem which is stuck out and start twisting until it's free.

i would put the stem bolt back in....then tap it gently with a hammer(the head of the bolt).This will loosen the expander bolt,hopefully,and then use mole grips to pull the stem out.....

I thought that would be the issue, since when the stem snapped, the force pulled the bolt hard enough to lodged the wedge stuck.

all of the above is good advice.

if that fails then find a long metal pole, take the front wheel off, stick the pole in the hole at the bottom of the forks, and then twat it with a hammer

Stem wedges always get stuck. 9/10 times I go to remove a quill stem I need to tap the wedge free.

funnily enough i never really have the problem with the stem wedge being stuck.
It wasnt the wedge thing, it wasnt stuck, its just that i push my stems aaall the way in when i put the on, so far in that the stem itself wedges in there.

Anyway,

if that fails then find a long metal pole, take the front wheel off, stick the pole in the hole at the bottom of the forks, and then twat it with a hammer
ive tried everything else, but this worked a treat, popped right out after a few good knocks. Thought of this just before read your suggestion, thanks, its out now. Finally new stem for me then, yepppeyyy :)

this is going in the bike destroyers thread :)

glad it helped....it was one of those last resorts as a mechanic

yeah, i know i can always count on mr hammer in case of emergency.

how on earth did you manage to break it? i would never imagine a stem to break unless in a really nasty crash.

how on earth did you manage to break it? i would never imagine a stem to break unless in a really nasty crash.

i was as surprised as you are. I know its a wierd thing to break and ive started hearing these little creaks recently every time i accelerated.

The thing is i run bullhorns on a fairly large gearing and every time i accelerate i have to push hard on the bars from side to side. the wobble off pushing down and pulling made the stem slightly wobble in that spot causing it to crack and brake. Thats about it, i doubt something like this would have happened with a quality stem, this one looks like it was made out of foam.

got a nice sturmany archer stem for sale eddie?

Metal fatigue over the lifetime of what looks like a really old stem.
Might have had a slight nick in the metal or been crashed by a previous owner.
You got the sudden, but luckily missed out on the catastrophic, failure.

Metal fatigue over the lifetime of what looks like a really old stem.
Might have had a slight nick in the metal or been crashed by a previous owner.
You got the sudden, but luckily missed out on the catastrophic, failure.

well ive crashed with that stem on before, twice and rather badly. Once (not so long ago) my bars hit the concrete from the side which may have weakend it at that point.
and yes i was very lucky, could have been an ungly one.

@harv, its all good im picking a black 110 cinelli from a friend, been waiting for that specific one for a while.

Found this today...

This particular bike has not been used in a while, so I wasn't too surprised that it didn't run 100% quietly after digging it out for a spin. It took me a 20 miles to find the cause of the creak though!

In fairness to Thomson, I know I overtightened it. Bit concerning though, considering I'm a 10 stone weakling and used a tiny multi-tool to fit it! It's also been not been touched for years (I have since acquired a torque wrench) and has done thousands of miles - but judging from the noise I think it only happened today.

Now I know why these are for sale...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=19654

Be careful out there...

everything has a limited span of life

just surprised its thomson

Why surprised? It is built to certain specs and tolerances. It was then over tightened subjecting it to forces it was not designed to take.

About as useless an observation as being surprised that a pair of gucci house slippers got destroyed by a day of hiking in mud.

Use components for their intended purpose as per the manufacturers instructions. High quality parts are not bomb or fool proof.

when installed correctly, it'll stand the test of time.

i.e. a poorly fitted Chris King headset won't despite being a 'fit and forget' headset.

It's an odd place to crack though.. almost like the bars were too big for it. Another 2-bolt stem bites the dust.