Cinelli 1R stem advice required please

Evening all,

I'm trawling for advice on what to do about my Cinelli 1R stem.

I've undone the little bolt that fixes the handlebars in place and naïvely assumed that i'd then be able to remove the handlebars, this however is not the reality I am faced with, my reality is that the bars are still firmly in place despite removing the bolt entirely and spraying the area liberally with WD-40.

Any ideas on what to try next?.

Cheers Matt

Tap the bars across with a rubber mallet then more WD40 it sounds like the clamp plate is stuck to the bars.

Matt70":11a8qvgm said:

Evening all,

I'm trawling for advice on what to do about my Cinelli 1R stem.

I've undone the little bolt that fixes the handlebars in place and naïvely assumed that i'd then be able to remove the handlebars, this however is not the reality I am faced with, my reality is that the bars are still firmly in place despite removing the bolt entirely and spraying the area liberally with WD-40.

Any ideas on what to try next?.

Cheers Matt

Click to expand...

Hopefully I've remembered correctly; there's a little toothed wedge that's only revealed once the 'bar is removed...sounds like that's the problem.

A good few years (probably 30!) since I've installed or uninstalled a 1R, they could be prone to creaking so it was recommended (by a TdeF mechanic friend) that the 1R was installed with a tiny amount of grease on the wedge - this stopped the creak and may have facilitated 'bar removal.

Rk.

Re:

Cheers guys,

I've had a little cruise around the interweb and it does appear that the wedge is the weak point in the design. As you suggest lubrication and the application of a rubber mallet appear to be the answer, so it's off to the shed later to apply the principle .

Re:

If that doesn't work then unscrew the 6mm bolt on the underside of the stem that controls the lateral movement of the wedge, keep your allen key in the hex recess and give it a good firm tap with the mallet. That might dislodge the wedge.

Also, when you're reassembling the stem, remove the wedge and the bolt completely, grease up the whole lot, get a Coke can and cut it down into a roughly 2" by 5mm strip and fold it over repeatedly in roughly 10mm X 5mm strips, concertina style and use it as a shim between the wedge and the bars. These stems were notorious not only for their creaking but for the bars slipping over rough ground or up-out-of-the-saddle pressure. Again, assemble with grease on either side of the shim then fit your bars with grease over the centre ferrule at the contact areas.

You'd think I'd been there myself!

:|