switched out the handlebars!

[mimitabby]

Those of you that frequent Bikejournal.com know about my shop bike, it's my avatar there.



as much as I love having this bike for cruising around the plant where I work, I don't like the handlebars. So I traded the handlebars (the old fashiioned kind) from a different bike with the help of two kind engineers.

First I learned that you can't get the handlebars off by loosening the nut that attachs them to the stem.

Then I learned that you can't get the stem out of the headtube by loosening the rather large nut there.

Then I learned that when you have a threaded stem, you don't need to unscrew the thing all the way, because the little piece at the bottom falls out..

Fortunately for me, I had one engineer there who is savvy with tools and then when I finally had the handlebars and stem out, another engineer that knows about bikes..

Gee, all this two days after my chain and derailleur class!!

[KnottedYet]

Oh, dear, protect us from the engineers!

(my aunt and uncle are engineers, so I mean this in the nicest possible way)

[DebW]

First I learned that you can't get the handlebars off by loosening the nut that attachs them to the stem.

Then I learned that you can't get the stem out of the headtube by loosening the rather large nut there.

Then I learned that when you have a threaded stem, you don't need to unscrew the thing all the way, because the little piece at the bottom falls out..

Tools to remove a quill stem include a wrench and a hammer (for tapping the stem bolt if it sticks up after you loosen it). What did you learn about rubber handlebar grips?

[Triskeliongirl]

Show us the after pic! Do be careful if you do this on a threadless stem, its not hard but you do have to know how to set the preload correctly. As an intellectual type, I always start with a book, Park Tools Big Blue, Zinn, or Bicycling Mag, and if that fails there is always the Park Tools website.

[mimitabby]

Rubber Handlebar grips? I didn't learn ANYTHING about them. They are stuck to the handlebars. Okay, I learned that they don't move.

I will take a new photo monday (must remember to wear the same Fuschia fleece ! )

A hammer would have been a great idea.

Trisk, there's a BOOK on Worksman Bicycles?!?!?!?

[DebW]

Rubber Handlebar grips? I didn't learn ANYTHING about them. They are stuck to the handlebars. Okay, I learned that they don't move.

Didn't you have to remove a handgrip to get the bars off the stem? Soap is the magic ingredient.

[mimitabby]

ah. No, i couldn't GET the handlebars off the stem. That's why I gave up and pulled the stem out (wrong) instead.
If I'd known the soap trick it would have been a lot faster...

and I would have learned much less.

[Triskeliongirl]

Trisk, there's a BOOK on Worksman Bicycles?!?!?!?

I am not sure I understand your question. Is Worksman the brand of bike you have? A bike is a bike is a bike. The general principles are the same, so all the books I mentioned will work for all bikes, you may just have to adapt the advice for the particulars of how your bike is set up (i.e. threaded vs. threadless stem, centerpull cantis vs side pull brakes, etc.).

[mimitabby]

New handlebars, streamers... I wore the same clothing on purpose