Bill Nighan wrote:
Regarding with 1R's with an alloy quill bolt -
I have one as well, new logo, pantographed "Cinelli" on the right, "C" on the left. It surprised me to see that quill bolt and expander were both alloy when I received it. I would not bet my life on it either! I figured it was aftermarket "upgrade", depending how one defines upgrade...
Could be that one could install the stem using a conventional steel bolt, expecting that the alloy expander will get itself wedged, then replace the steel bolt with the alloy bolt... and then hang the bike on the wall and just look at it while smiling about the 30 gram weight reduction...
Bill Nighan SF California
Bill, I understand your lack of confidence in the alloy stem expander. I really never had any desire to use aftermarket alloy bolts back when it was a common thing to do. However, in the late 80's I used the Cinelli alloy bolts on my full-time racing-and-everything-else bike and had no problems with them. I used the bolt mainly because that is what came with the stem.
Keep in mind that the Cinelli alloy bolt is more than 30% bigger in cross section than the steel model. Of course, the bigger diameter of the alloy bolts means that the approach you mentioned, using the steel bolt to set the alloy expander, is not possible. Anyway, stem bolts should not be torqued down very hard lest you bulge the steerer. Besides, your stem should slip if your bars are hit in a crash. Could save the bar, the fork, who knows what else.
The same basic alloy bolt was used as a seat binder, made by Cinelli and compatible with Campy SR 1-bolt posts. A friend, 6' 4" and maybe 175 lbs, used that bolt and had no problems. The seat binder on those posts needs a lot more torque than a stem, so if it worked there, it should be fine in a stem. That said, I would not suggest using the alloy seat binder.
Finally, my guess is that the alloy stem binder does not save as much as 30g. That's a whole entire ounce... or a sip of water. But they do look cool, and never rust.
Tom Dalton Bethlehem, PA USA
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