Girvin Flexstem - Some advice needed please

Hi all,

I've just finished restoring an old Offroad ProFlex 853 - link below if you'd like to take a look:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=332922

I've managed to find a new old stock Girvin Flexstem in as-new condition which I'd like to fit. But they are the old style 'wedge' type fitment that drop inside the forks and tighten against the inner wall of the fork. Sorry, didn't describe that very well but you probably know what I mean!

Anyway, the Proflex has got non-standard forks on it - a pair of RockShock Indy SL. These have an unthreaded steerer which is very slightly too thick for the stem to drop into. I'm talking literally one millimetre here.

So, the question is, how can I get it to fit? I'm thinking of asking an engineer to turn the stem down very slightly on a lathe to get it to fit, but wondered if that's a bad idea? It'll obviously very slightly affect the strength but I REALLY want the Flexstem to fit - purely for aesthetic value rather than function.


Any advice gratefully received!

Don't put a Girvin on it at all..... you already have a suspension fork on it.

Re:

It won't work. The forks are alloy, aheadset steerer forks, they only work with ahead stems that clamp on the outside of the fork. The quill flexstem will only work on steel threaded steerers and standard headsets.

The big problem other than the fact that the alloy steerer is too thick is that using a quill stem on an ahead steerer will mean that there is no way for the bearings in the headset to be preloaded and so your forks will fall out of the bike and wobble all over the place.

What you need to do is buy a set of threaded steel rigid forks and a standard headset then you can use the flexstem. Alternatively buy an ahead flexstem like this:

...and, as mentioned above, you shouldn't use a flex stem and sus forks, just looks wrong like bar ends and riser bars!

Ok, got it! Ditch the Flextstem!
Thanks for the help, looks like I'll be advertising a Girvin Flexstem in the for sale section soon. Cheers, I appreciate the advice given above.

Re:

flexstems are and always were terrible, they are fairly weighty too if you care about that sorta thing

david

leeacashman":2s8b98b7 said:

Ok, got it! Ditch the Flextstem!
Thanks for the help, looks like I'll be advertising a Girvin Flexstem in the for sale section soon. Cheers, I appreciate the advice given above.

Click to expand...

I didn't say that! Flexstem said are cool but you have to use the right one in the right way!

Here's my bike:


Rigid forks, threaded headset, quill stem

pete_mcc":78fg8bzz said:

leeacashman":78fg8bzz said:

Ok, got it! Ditch the Flextstem!
Thanks for the help, looks like I'll be advertising a Girvin Flexstem in the for sale section soon. Cheers, I appreciate the advice given above.

Click to expand...

I didn't say that! Flexstem said are cool but you have to use the right one in the right way!

Here's my bike:

Rigid forks, threaded headset, quill stem

Click to expand...

+1. Love flexstems and they proudly grace my fav rigid fork bikes. They are superb at reducing trail buzz and don't throw off the handling of pre sus geo adjusted bikes.