So, where were we?....oh yeah, continuation of Thursday's Steam Tweak.....Ok, anyone that has fitted a Syncros stem and not wanted to damage/scratch their bars will be well aware of what we call in the UK 'The 2p Trick' (some of you might well know this as the Dime Trick or Euro Trick
). It's the one where you unthread the alloy bolts from the bar clamp, feed them in from the underside against a coin and force open the bars wide enough so that they don't scratch your beloved NOS-ness as you slide on your new stem. Well, I'm using riser bars on the EWR so we have all those bends to negotiate so we're into a whole bunch of fun with these!!! You see, the 2p Trick spreads the clamp using the maximum of the bolt thread, plus the thickness of the coin......and the stem is aluminium, which don't like being bent....EVER!!
The '2p Trick'
So, we start with the 2p Trick and voila, the Cattlehead stem glides round the first bend gracefully
Round the first bend
I start to feel confident and everything on earth was at peace......UNTIL, we get to the centre bulge on the bars
. This is where you need to grow a set of balls as big as that Bull I posted up on here a while back and go for the 'Open Wide And Say My Name' 8p Trick.
The 8p trick is FOUR 2p coins and my NOS Syncros stem stretched wide open to heart stopping, this baby's gonna crack, proportions
If I open any wider I'm gonna split asunder
Someone was on my side, I got round the second bend and quickly cranked the stem back up tight. Not had a chance to ride the bike yet and I'm into that whole messy, sloping top cap rubbish you get with Syncros stems (say goodbye to another lovely King Top Cap...)
Third stem on my EWR, third time lucky?
