Tight stem

Bit of an odd one, never had this issue before. Inserting a stem into 1" threaded steerer and it's mad tight! Can barley get it down to the min mark, and pretty impossible to align as you have the wrench the thing about to straight it.

Not sure what brand the forks are, came second hand on a Look frame. Carbon of some sort with a aluminium steerer, stem is 3T, but have tried a couple and same problem.

I've cleaned the inside of the forks and greased the stem.

Could the forks maybe bit a bit moody, or is this something other people have encountered?

Any advice would be massively appreciated.

a) These were originally threadless and a thread has been cut.

I can't find any reference for the ID of a threadless steerer: not sure that there is a standard.

Threaded steerers are almost all 22.2mm...

b) ... except French standard which are 22mm.

Either way you need to get your Verniers out.

http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-headsets.html

Sounds a bit French to me! had the same problem a while back on a French track bike.

People suggested sanding down the stem, or buy a French one that fits.

Velo Orange

Cheers for the help.

I'll get on measuring them today and see what the numbers say.

Think I'll try the sanding method, don't want to be limited to French parts.

Either that, or new forks at some point.