Threaded on high-end, eh? How ancient are these bikes?

Threaded offers few advantages over threadless. Threaded headsets are harder to adjust for the neophyte, the system is heavier due to the quill, stem bolt, and wedge nut, and fewer high-end stems and headsets are available.

Threaded does have these advantages: you can run your stem reasonably high on a quill system. You could run a steer tube with a number of spacers and run a high stem height if you wanted, whereas on a carbon steer tube, that is not possible. Stems are really cheap these days. You can still get a King headset in threaded AND eventually switch it over to threadless.

If it were me, I would definitely go threadless. I know some think I am 100% retro grouch, which there is nothing further from the truth. I like innovations and generally embrace them (or atleast try them out before I condemn them). I just don't like innovations that answer the question that was not even asked (nor needed to be asked).

These were on "new" Aegis bikes. Maybe a year old, but the store isn't that old. I was just a bit surprised to see them. Everything in the shop is pretty much high end stuff. Lots of Litespeeds, QRs, Elites, and Aegis. It would make sense that they might be a couple of years old, but I thought that most companies went threadless a good while ago. Thanks for the reply.

---

- Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P. J. O'Rourke

Oddly enough, the Fuji Aloha was equipped with a quill stem as late as 2000, maybe even 2001. I have not seen one anywhere for awhile, so I can't say whether or not it still has the quill stem or aluminum fork. It was a great value about five years ago, but the cost of upgrades would easily bring you up to some bikes that are a lot better.

I suppose there are a few who still like the quill stems and threaded headsets, possibly guys riding ancient bikes that have parts that are not easy to replace (something like a Hooker with a 24" front wheel- the only source of a 24" fork I know of is MDT- and then there would be an axle width issue). Lance did ride with a quill until a couple years back.

One advantage I can see is for positioning. Depending on your race you may decide to ride a little higher on the front end for comfort or a little lower for better aero position.

With a quill stem this adjustment takes less than a minute.

I would recommend against buying anything with a threaded steer tube. It is going to impose some pretty substantial limitations on your ability to buy stems and size the bike accurately. It will also compromise your ability to get quality replacement stems in the future since few manufacturers will continue with quill/threaded stem production (headsets too) for very long. They are an endangered species. Threadless systems are a little lighter, a good bit stronger and have a wide range of adjustment- actually more so than a quill design if the bike is initially built correctly and the fork isn't cut too short when it's built. IMHO it is worth a few bucks to get a threadless configured front end on your bike. Anything else represents a compromise.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Funny how the world goes. In the cycling world threaded stems are still quite acceptable. Nothing wrong with a threaded stem, they worked great for many years.

BTW, I built bikes in that very store for a while. They wouldn't do anything that they weren't sure was a good idea.

Which is why I asked this question.... I believe that TJ wouldn't stock anything sub-standard, I was just surprised to see it there. BTW the new store is really nice. Got me thinking about one of those Litespeeds for next year. But, I know, order early.

---

- Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P. J. O'Rourke

Call me retrogrouch if you will, but I much prefered the old threaded quill system. They were faster to adjust and can make make more variable precise adjustment because of not needing spacers. Personally, I wish they'd bring them back.

as an interesting bit of cycling trivia - the main reason threadless headsets took off like they did was not because they are better, per se. many of the modern things that make them so nice such as carbon steerers had yat to be invented. they came from mt bikes which at the time absolutely owned the market - the main reason they swept the industry overnite was becaus they are far cheaper to build into a OEM spec bike. old style headserts required a time consuming human touch to adust - threadless do not. add this man hour cost over umpteen billion bikes, factor in a little " new/lighter/stiffer " marketing mumbo-jumbo and hey presto - a new standard is born. a few years later the carbon steerer arrived on the scene, ( which is impossible in a threaded) and there you have it - quill stems on closeout across the board. :)

Just don't get this guy (rabbit) started on integrated headsets! :p

---

<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?