Removing a stuck bicycle stem!

In this video we get the worst stuck stem I have ever seen. In the over 28 years I have been in the business this was the toughest.

[@treyhoyt5621]

I can’t thank Jason enough for working to get both the seat post and stem out. I picked my bike up today. Thanks for your persistence. I truly appreciate it.

[@alloutbikes]

Thank you.👍

[@user-fo9ri5dy7b]

Quite impressive indeed the patient's you both had and the fact that you were able to salvage enough footage to give us this video is completely wonderful I'd convinced with a biter paint damage I do it one time Schwinn had matching paint in two varieties of brushing and a spray booth which could be take it down to the point where just a little bit of clear coat afterwards would give it a very good appearance I'm sure the customer was quite pleased

[@gotshun]

My divorce wasn't that hard. Very happy you got that off. Love your videos!

[@JonathanWhoever]

I have had many vintage bicycles. Mostly French and Italian. Regreasing these occasionally is a must. I actually once forcefully removed one of those French stems of death, the good ole Drano method. And immediately cut it in half.

[@alloutbikes]

Oven cleaner works pretty good as long as its a steel with an aluminum stem or seatpost. Oven cleaner eats aluminum. So don't use it on anything aluminum you want to save. Thanks! 👍

[@chrischatfield2935]

I wish we had as much heavy machinery available as you do in the US,you all seem to have compressors and fork lifts and tractors ,heavy vices, welding equipment.its not as common place in the UK .btw thanks for your comments on the Chricha bikes video ,your opinion is valued,love your work

[@alloutbikes]

Actually I think its about the same here. I'm just lucky my neighbor has the forklift I can borrow. I do have a nice air compressor but I had to buy it for my business and that was $1000. I feel like I'm still paying for that and I got it 2 years ago. Goodluck on your videos. Keep them coming.🖖

[@iwannabeyourdog90]

Hi, I actually am in a state, where the wedge is released from the stem, but is still stuck in the fork. Basically I hope it is released, because I see a small gap between the wedge and the stem inside the steerer tube.. Would you say I can now safely remove the stem using your method? Or should I first move the wedge out of the fork? I'm a bit sceptical, because I heard, some forks getting smaller at the bottom. I don't want to ram my wedge into the sidewalls... If it helps, I'm working on a Specialized Hardrock from early 90s. Thanks a lot and greetings from Germany

[@alloutbikes]

Your right. Lots of forks get smaller at the bottom. What I have done in the past is to turn the fork or bike upside down and spray some penetrating oil into the steer tube and just tap the wedge out from the bottom. I have used the stem bolt if I can thread it in from the bottom or I just use a punch. Be careful not to hurt the threads. I hope this helps. Goodluck.👍

[@jackiegammon2065]

Did the end part of the quill stay inside the headtube? I'm sure that you may have tried this, but did you try heating up the bike before this??

[@alloutbikes]

It wouldn't work. It's a classic catch 22. I would have to heat up the steer tube but I have to remove the fork to get to the steer tube but can't remove the fork because the stem is in the way. If I heat the head tube it just damages the paint and won't affect the fork itself. Oh well..... Thanks for the thought.👍

[@jackiegammon2065]

@@alloutbikes You might be right, but I also think it may have worked..The paint was damaged on the fork anyway, and if folks allow their bikes to get in that condition... maybe they'll simply be excited to have their bike back and able to use it again. Thanks for sharing!

[@alloutbikes]

They understood that the fork might be damaged and were unhappy to find out that the paint on the fork was but they would not accept the frame being even scratched. You couldn't put heat on the steer tube because the frame was in the way if I put heat onto the frame it would have been pointless due to the gap between the head tube and the steer tube. If I put heat from the bottom of the fork into the seer tube I would have heated the fork and the stem at the sametime canceling some of the benefits of the procedure. Also the fork was brazed together so the chances of the fork coming unbrazed were to great.

[@jackiegammon2065]

@@alloutbikes Ultimately, it is their responsibility with all of this, so hopefully they learned a lesson from all of your hard work.

[@Hellya38]

wow peep reallly go that far with a forklift just to remove a stuck stem, thanks for showing all the works anyways

[@alloutbikes]

You don't need a forklift. If you have some sort of overhead you can use that. They had a forklift next door and I was looking for an excuse to drive it. Thanks for commenting.👍

[@dadsvespa]

I remember as a kid back in the 60s, loosening the bolt on top, I think....lol....on my Schwinn Sting-Ray ,then tapping the bolt with a hammer to dislodge the wedge. Then I could take the handle bars and forks out after removing the bearing nut. Did you tap the wedge loose? Sometimes they stuck for me....but I was a kid, delivering papers 7 days a week during the Vietnam war. brings back memories.

[@alloutbikes]

I did. The wedge actually fell out the bottom of the fork. I always tap the wedge before messing with the stem. If you don't you just mess things up. I have a text in the video mentioning removing the wedge before going through this ordeal. Thanks for commenting.👍

[@OGUncle_Lino_1972]

Wow all that trouble you had to go through to remove a bike stem! Spray some WD-40 👍😫

[@alloutbikes]

I soaked the stem for weeks with PB-Blaster. You can actually see the can in the video. Thanks for the comments.👍

[@thelazyfishkeeper2730]

you see driving a forklift is like riding a bike.....was this bike worth saving? or would it not have been better to buy a new one. ... a new question what caused the stem to not want to come out? i have so many ??? and i know you don't the time.. see you friday if i time it right. stay well

[@alloutbikes]

Yes the bike is worth saving. Those old road bikes can be worth lots of money. This one is pretty nice. As far as the stems getting stuck is due to corrosion. As the metal starts to swell. In this case the hole starts to close in on the stem. That is why you want to grease stems like this one. The fact that this company used two different metals (aluminum stem/steel fork) those two metals create a chemical reaction causing the corrosion. Trek used those two materials because they were best at the time at the price point. Thanks for commenting.👍

[@user-fo9ri5dy7b]

I get it now grease in place of the spray-on penetrate that I use currently thank you

[@marcpavlik8776]

Wow that was tough. Glad you are you and not me because I'd have chopped it and beat it out the bottom. Guess that's why you're in business and not me.

[@70bigheavy]

A scene from Monty Python. Lol 😂😂😂

[@alloutbikes]

👍

[@JMEproductions]

If you had another strap you could have secured the frame to the bottom of the forklift and the handles attached to the forks as they were and just lifted the forks to pull them apart

[@nickturner3918]

Been there a hundred times before Definitely stealing your strap idea next time tho

[@alloutbikes]

Your welcome to it. Anything to help.

[@ericwilkinson9447]

All Out Bikes.. couldn't have said it better myself 😉

[@Yousef_Odeh]

Yea sure i have a forklift in my side pocket its fine..

[@alloutbikes]

I was going to use 3 2x4's in the shape of a teepee over the frame and use a ratchet strap but, the forklift was just sitting there so I figured (What the heck)? Thanks for commenting👍

[@JasonGormick-wc2zv]

So funny he doesn’t know how to drive the forklift, doesn’t know how to use a cumalong, took 20 min to figure out what to do, get a better job

[@alloutbikes]

I think I did pretty good. First thing I've never used a forklift. This one had a manual transmission with a carburetor that needs to be rebuilt. I do know how to use a cumalong but I figured the forklift would have been quicker. As far as getting a better job I like what I do it pays the bills. Sometimes videos don't turn out exactly like you thought. The video was just supposed to take 2 minutes maximum but it turned into a bigger deal. I could have edited the video in a way to look better but I decided to show some of the difficulties you run into when you start a project. I'll keep my job thanks. I'm my own boss. I own my own business. Life is pretty good. I hope you love your job as much as I love mine.👍

[@charlessale409]

Negative bastard!