Choppin' The Gooseneck

[Hal the Elder]

HEY QUENTON:

Since I installed the Riser Bars on Oscar, he looks like an Elk with his Antlers!

I love the shape of those handlebars, but the stock gooseneck perches 'em 5-1/2 inches above the triple tree, which makes the combination look silly.

I would like to lower the gooseneck by three inches. If I sawed off that much, plus the mounting bolt, would the internal clamping wedge still work?

Here's a shot of the gooseneck & bars:

HAL

 

[KilroyCD]

Hal, before you go a' choppin', might I make a suggestion? Take a look at a Wald #4 chrome stem (below). It'll be shorter, plus the part that the bars clamp into angles out from the stem at closer to a 90 degree angle, instead of angling upwards like the Whizzer stem. Also, it's inexpensive, and any local bike shop should be able to get it for you if they don't already have one in stock. It's also on the Memory Lane Classics website. It's nothing fancy, but it is solid. I've used them on a number of bikes I've rebuilt.

 

[mabman]

As long as you follow the same angle that the quill is cut at there is no reason why not that I see. Cut the same amount off the bolt. It still puzzles me why the quill won't go in to the headtube further though as usually HT's are hollow through and through and the same ID. It must have something to do with the Whizzer front fork?

I know this is a long shot but did you try backing off the allen bolt and whacking it with a nylon hammer? Sometimes the wedge gets stuck in there and it acts like it won't move although you have the bolt backed off.

Another option is this http://cgi.ebay.com/New-BMX-Square-...dset-Blue_W0QQitemZ360071741690QQcmdZViewItem might look sharp and will do what you need at the same time. BMX stems like this are pretty strong and they have 4 bolts instead of 2 even. An alloy clamp will hold those chromium bars more securely than a chrome one would also.

 

[Hal the Elder]

HEY MABMAN

If you'll notice on my photo of the stem, there's a chrome hex nut that contacts the triple tree, and it won't slip up any higher on the stem, because the stem's diameter increases above the chrome nut.

There's no way that stem can be driven down any further as long as that nut is there, and even without the nut, the stem's diameter is too big for the hole in the triple tree.

So even if I sawed it off, it still won't sink any deeper into the steering head than it is now.

Solution? Order the Chrome Forged Steel stem from MLC that Kilroy has on his "Thumper"!

HAL

 

[mabman]

Hey Hal

That just looks like a regular old headset top nut and a .875 quill stem to me but what do I know after 30+ years of being a bicycle mechanic? Good luck.

 

[Hal the Elder]

HEY MABMAN:

I exposed a portion of the stem under the nut and measured it with my dial calipers, and it's not perfectly round, but the diameter varies between 0.810" and 0.840", so it's less than the 0.875" (7/8)" you mentioned.

(You've wrenched a lot of bikes in your time!)

HAL

 

[mabman]

Here is a stem like the one Kilroy suggested: It is a very standard item and came on many bikes since the 40's with 1" headsets, and a standard to this day in the cruiser/cantilever frames that are grandkids of the bikes that Whizzers were made to fit on.

Here is what it measures:

Hold the phone. After I punched the button I happened to remember that BMX used a slightly smaller headset back in the 70's and 80's. They used it also on some of the first hand made mtn. bikes. It is outlined here: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/opc.html#stem Looks like a weiner!

Oh, and someone tell that Montana Whizzer chap that his kickstand is down.

 

[Hal the Elder]

HEY MABMAN:

Today I ordered a stem from "Memory Lane Classics", a vintage bike parts dealer in Ohio. Kilroy told me about the place.

I ordered the same stem that Kilroy has on his "retro-custom" Whizzer "Thumper", a 22.2 mm (7/8") Chrome Forged Steel stem.

The man on the Montana Whizzer does indeed have his kickstand unlatched!

His name is Gary Breylinger, and here's a picture of him with his high school buddies, taken in 1949, 60 years ago. He's second from the left.

Note that the Riser bars were popular even then!

The picture was copied off my monitor screen, but it wasn't very sharp to begin with, and was expanded in addition.

HAL

 

[KilroyCD]

Hi Hal, in the other thread you had asked me for a close-up photo of the gooseneck on Thumper, so I took a couple today. Here they are:

 

[Hal the Elder]

HEY KILROY:

That stem looks as high as my stock one. Won't it sink any deeper into the steering tube?

HAL