Quill to Ahead converter - questions

[Danny]

Following the recent thread about quill to ahead converters I have two, probably dumb, questions.

1. If you fit one, are you still able to adjust the height of your handlebars, or will it only go into one fixed position?

2. Are you likely to need to change your handlebars - i.e. are handlebars that fit a quill stem a different width from handlebars for an ahead stem?

 

[fossyant]

1. Yes you can by the use of spacers and adjusting the depth that you insert the adapter stem.

2. Just get a stem that fits (clamps) standard bars - many are oversize so double check.

 

[Yorkshireman]

I've just changed this set-up

partly 'cos it looked sort of ugly and partly 'cos it wasn't quite right for me (the original riser bars and stem weren't either). I decided some time ago that any new bits that I needed would be black, so I went for the only black quill-Ahead converter that I could find, which turned out to be about 6.5" long with the top section being just long enough to take the new stem. As the head tube is quite short on the bike, the quill section had to be inserted in as far as the minimum mark. This left a section of quill showing that I thought looked as clumsy as the old one but at least the fit was ok now

and the lock nut on the headset was shiny chrome. I painted the lock-nut gloss black and found a spacer on SJS (black of course) to fill the space between the top of the lock-nut and the bottom of the stem clamp.

I prefer the lines of quill stems as the Ahead system always seemed a bit 'chunky' to me, but I'm getting used to the look of this setup now. I think that some of the non-black converters may be a bit longer than the one I have, but as it worked out I didn't need any more height.

 

[Danny]

Thanks for both of these posts - they are really helpful.

Yorkshireman - thanks for all the pictures. I actually want to experiment with both the height and reach of my handlebars, and was assuming I might have to try a number of different stems. Am now wondering about going for a setup like yours which would appear to give me maximum adjustability. Where did you get all your parts from - SJSC?

 

[Yorkshireman]

Thanks for both of these posts - they are really helpful.

Yorkshireman - thanks for all the pictures. I actually want to experiment with both the height and reach of my handlebars, and was assuming I might have to try a number of different stems. Am now wondering about going for a setup like yours which would appear to give me maximum adjustability. Where did you get all your parts from - SJSC?

I bought the adjustable ahead stem at a Halfords sale (£2.00) a couple of years ago (can't resist a 'bargain). The quill adapter came from High on Bikes
http://www.highonbikes.com/product....archCriteria=&PT_ID=139&P_ID=394&btnProduct=+
as I couldn't find a black one elsewhere.The 1"x20mm spacer did come from SJS http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-0-20mm-Headset-spacer-aluminium-1-inch--Black-13168.htm as well as a black head set lock-nut - that didn't look as good as the original (once it had the black gloss paint treatment )

Hope this helps .