Handlebar Stem ?: Will save me trip to LBS Mechanics!!

from the discussion here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... lebar+stem

Okay, is a stem like this opened with a hex allen wrench??

Alright, here is my problem, I am working on a stem similar to this but I don't think it is for a hex allen wrench to open up. It's really a circle rather than something with angles. The part to unscrew is not convex or concave as it might be in this picture, it is flat.

Without the fancy gold: it is this stem: See that opening?? I don't think it's been stripped, I'm unsure of what would open it up.



I've looked it up on the net, I've got books. Maybe, I hope there is a simple answer and I will profess ignorance gladly then, but it'd save me a trip to the bicycle shop who by the way, I have supported numerous times this year already.

I can't figure out how to open it up. I've opened up many handlebar stems, with the hex allen wrenches or the older kind with a bolt to rotate with a crescent wrench.

It's an English Bike by the way too that I'm working on, cerca 1980. I can provide more backup if needed.

Thanks!

sorry to be dense but I can see where the problem is. Is it the stem in the top pic? If so, given the poor angle of the picture, its an allen key, the same as all stems unless they were old enough to use a hex bolt sticking up through the stem.
The second pic doesn't show anything either. It needs to be taken from about. The actual profile is irrelevant. Some are recessed , some are not. To the older rider this is the normal stem whereas a Ahead is the new type.
Whilst every rule has an exception, in nromal stems as in your pics there have only been two types of bolt. Either Allen key, usually recessed to give a smooth top or hex bolt, say 1/2 inch across. Either way the principle is the same.
Post some better pics and you may get more answers.

Mattscm: Thank you.

Voila! I got it with an Hex Wrench, seemingly 7"/32. Well, that wasn't really that much of a problem. Thanks!

It's the old Viscount with the dangerous fork...now I can change them...

looks like a Torx (some times called "star drive") fitting.

Thank You: yes, a 7"/32 hex wrench did the trick. I'd sprayed it with lubricant a few days ago. It just doesn't look very block-like but turned right away.

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/mar/Hillerud.htm Much like this. One guy at that site has a picture of a cracked fork. I don't feel like taking chances on the fork, it may sound paranoid. I've ridden it so far on the serene bike paths of a park near here.