Please Help Me Decide On A New Quill Stem

[jberenyi]

I'm building a new Italian vintage bike and I need your help with choosing a quill stem all of which are 90-100mm long. The following choices I have picked but I need to know in order from the stiffest to the most flexy. Sure could use your help people. Thanks in advance.

1. 3TTT Motus
2. 3TTT 2002 Evol
3. Cinelli XA
4. Cinelli XE
5. Modolo Q-Race

[saab2000]

Cinelli 1/A

Accept no substitute. Feels more solid and stiff than the X/A.

[MilanoTom]

Depending on the vintage (if post-1995 or so), the Cinelli Pinocchio might merit consideration. It's Columbus steel, nice and shiny, and as stiff as you'd ever want.

[thwart]

Gee, I like the Cinelli Grammo, especially with a titanium seatpost...

Back in the days when titanium was the wonder metal...

[sg8357]

Nitto makes really great Cinelli stems, get the Pearl.
Nitto pretty much makes old Italian parts better than the Italians ever did.

Scott G.

[michael white]

Nitto makes really great Cinelli stems, get the Pearl.
Nitto pretty much makes old Italian parts better than the Italians ever did.

Scott G.


totally agree, and I use the Pearl on both my Italian bikes.

[jberenyi]

Keep in mind I need a 26.0mm clamp

[MilanoTom]

Gee, I like the Cinelli Grammo, especially with a titanium seatpost...

Back in the days when titanium was the wonder metal...

I've got a couple of Grammos and they never seemed to hold as good as a regular aluminum or steel quill (and they were the correct size, in case you were wondering). As was mentioned by other posters, the Nitto Pearl might be the best way to go. They come in 26.0 and are finished very nicely. The only potential drawback, other than their not being Italian, is that the sizing isn't exactly traditional, since they're measured along the side of the stem, and not the top (as I understand it, .7 cm should be added to the size, so a 10cm, if measured on the top, would be more like a 10.7).

Tom

[Pete Serotta]

My all time favorite....

Cinelli 1/A

Accept no substitute. Feels more solid and stiff than the X/A.

[Fixed]

Nitto makes really great Cinelli stems, get the Pearl.
Nitto pretty much makes old Italian parts better than the Italians ever did.

Scott G.
+1

[Pete Serotta]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sg8357
Nitto makes really great Cinelli stems, get the Pearl.
Nitto pretty much makes old Italian parts better than the Italians ever did.

Scott G.

+1
__________________

++1

[regularguy412]

Gee, I like the Cinelli Grammo, especially with a titanium seatpost...

Back in the days when titanium was the wonder metal...

The Grammo Ti is the only one I've had experience with. It looks great, comes in a 26.0 clamp and mine never creaks. I never considered it to be overly flexy.

MIke in AR

[vaxn8r]

The Grammo Ti is the only one I've had experience with. It looks great, comes in a 26.0 clamp and mine never creaks. I never considered it to be overly flexy.

MIke in AR
It's not flexy. I've never had an issue with it either. Great looking quill stem, one of the best atmo. But not shiny.

[rsl]

Nothing looks better than the shimano ultegra/dura ace. Though I have it on good authority that there's a safety issue with those, so I'm NOT recommending them.

Nitto is good.

I have the Cinelli X/A on my recent Zanconato and it looks fantastic!

[Grant McLean]

Find a matching bar/stem combo.

-g

[Alexi]

I really like the look of the cinelli 101's

[vaxn8r]

Find a matching bar/stem combo.

-g
Yeah, get one of these:

[jberenyi]

I had time on my hands. For my saddle height to headset dimension of 5.250, if I install a Pearl I will achieve my 2" drop going to the min insertion line. The bracketed dimensions are in mm. Notice I accounted for the way that Nitto does their measurements. And if you want to know what the offset really is when measuring off the top, its not a 7mm offset but 4mm.

[Grant McLean]

Notice I accounted for the way that Nitto does their measurements. And if you want to know what the offset really is when measuring off the top, its not a 7mm offset but 4mm.

My experience is that the Pearl stem is sized more like this:

-g

[jberenyi]

If someone can prove Grant's claim I will update my CAD drawing but its tough to find any reference material out there anywhere that actually shows how it's measured. Using Grant's technique it is still 5mm offset and not 7mm as claimed on internet sites.

[Grant McLean]

If someone can prove Grant's claim I will update my CAD drawing but its tough to find any reference material out there anywhere that actually shows how it's measured. Using Grant's technique it is still 5mm offset and not 7mm as claimed on internet sites.


it's seems the Pearl measures out at their numbered size if you measure at about 80' angle.

I've measured a couple of sizes of Pearl, the 10cm is about 10.7 an 11 is about 11.7cm

the strange part is that the other model nitto stems aren't like this, the Technomic
and the dynamic stem measure normally center to center parrallel with the ground.

-g

[mike p]

Whats the saftey issue? News to me. I vote for Dura-ace or cinelli 1R

Mike



Nothing looks better than the shimano ultegra/dura ace. Though I have it on good authority that there's a safety issue with those, so I'm NOT recommending them.

Nitto is good.

I have the Cinelli X/A on my recent Zanconato and it looks fantastic!

[saab2000]

Whats the saftey issue? News to me. I vote for Dura-ace or cinelli 1R

Mike


I had one. Look great, but not as solid as the 1A. Just sayin'.....

I guess these are 26.4 so might not be what's needed, but the 1A stems are the shiz IYAM.

[michael white]

four great things about the Pearl:

very solid bar clamp which looks cool and has finely finished bolt, which also tightens conveniently from the front
quill is 1.5 cm taller than the Italian quills, which is always useful
fine satin finish
says Pearl on the side, which looks enigmatic and classy

hey btw I always loved the 1A too.

[saab2000]

four great things about the Pearl:

very solid bar clamp which looks cool and has finely finished bolt, which also tightens conveniently from the front
quill is 1.5 cm taller than the Italian quills, which is always useful
fine satin finish
says Pearl on the side, which looks enigmatic and classy

hey btw I always loved the 1A too.

Mike,

Spent all last Saturday in Wilmington. Rained the whole day. Guess you guys needed it. I love Wilmington! :banana: :beer:

Downtown is fun.

Didn't see any 1A stems though, so I kinda missed out.

[michael white]

no, there's probably only 2 or 3 1A's in this whole town,
but there's plenty of other distractions . . .

[saab2000]

no, there's probably only 2 or 3 1A's in this whole town,
but there's plenty of other distractions . . .

You are correct sir! :D

[T-Crush]

I run one every time I build a bike with a threaded fork. As I recall, lots of teams speced 'em back in the day, too. Pair it with a Campy ti seatpost and you're stylin.

[jberenyi]

Okay Grant. Here is the updated drawing for the Nitto Pearl. I have to agree with you on your choice of measurement. I tried everything to get a 7mm offset between Nitto's way of measuring and the traditional approach. It's not possible. It looks like 5.2mm is the best we can come up with.

it's seems the Pearl measures out at their numbered size if you measure at about 80' angle.

I've measured a couple of sizes of Pearl, the 10cm is about 10.7 an 11 is about 11.7cm

the strange part is that the other model nitto stems aren't like this, the Technomic
and the dynamic stem measure normally center to center parrallel with the ground.

-g

[dannyg1]

Ever the contrarian I guess, My vote is for the 3TTT Record (Motus is nice as well) if only because I find the gentle filing to a pyramid shape to be truly beautiful. On a bike like the stunning red Croll that's shown a few posts ago, it makes all of the difference.

After that, I go Grammo, but the Serotta titanium stems I love too, they're just soooo expensive. Find one of the completely polished versions of that and you'll see what the word pretty means.

Danny

[shinomaster]

I like my ITM Eclipse. Stiff as ****. And Tony the Rominger used one :)

[saab2000]

I like my ITM Eclipse. Stiff as ****. And Tony the Rominger used one :)

Toni Rominger used a lot of things. The ITM Eclipse was just one of the 'tools' in his arsenal.

[Grant McLean]

Okay Grant. Here is the updated drawing for the Nitto Pearl. I have to agree with you on your choice of measurement. I tried everything to get a 7mm offset between Nitto's way of measuring and the traditional approach. It's not possible. It looks like 5.2mm is the best we can come up with.

just a tweak to your drawing:
I believe the Pearl stem is angled at 71' (not 73')
...must be something about small japanese frames with shallow head angles.

the difference in angle is actually visible compared to the Dynamic model,
and you can see the Pearl is longer too.

-g

[saab2000]

While riding the wider one looks nicer. That is similar to the 1R from Cinelli. But my experience has shown the 1A to seem stiffer. Don't know why.

That Pearl looks to be the modern incarnation of the 1A, but is way tall.