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Do you change your stem regularly?


Road Runner

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I was doing some work on my bikes and in reading Zinn's book on road bikes, he says that you should change your stem on a regular basis based on your amount of riding (like every few years).  I've never changed my stems and my bikes are like 8 and 10 years old.  Are my stems going to break and send me to the hospital?  Is this something you do?  Seriously.  

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Lynnyrd Zinn was nuttier than a fruitcake.  Note I said was.  He died in 1987 but Disney World used their cryogenic processes on him and his frozen animated body has been making bike frames and outrageous claims ever since.

 

He also claims you should coat your pedal bearings in monkey sperm and he has a theory on cable ferrules causing impotence issues in Slovenians.

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I've changed stems on my bikes, but it was to change stem length to put the bars in a better spot.

 

I have had a stem get a crack at one of the screws before, and you'll hear your bike start creaking when they begin to crack like that

 

so you should get plenty of warning before your bars break off in your hands

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I was doing some work on my bikes and in reading Zinn's book on road bikes, he says that you should change your stem on a regular basis based on your amount of riding (like every few years).  I've never changed my stems and my bikes are like 8 and 10 years old.  Are my stems going to break and send me to the hospital?  Is this something you do?  Seriously.  

I have cracked a couple stems(not from a wreck), so I keep a close watch on them.

 

Zinn is looney though.

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Leonard Zinn was nuttier than a fruitcake.  Note I said was.  He died in 1987 but Disney World used their cryogenic processes on him and his frozen animated body has been making bike frames and outrageous claims ever since.

 

He also claims you should coat your pedal bearings in monkey sperm and he has a theory on cable ferrules causing impotence issues in Slovenians.

 

Okay, but is Lennard Zinn nutty, too?  I like his book.  It has helped me a lot.

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I have never changed handlebars, either.

 

Last time I hit the pavement, I had to change mine on the Specialized. It was May 2009 and I was climbing up Ridge Road. It was about 1 in the afternoon and I was going up a 10% grade at about 7mph when this old lady was going out with her St Bernard to get the mail. All of a sudden, I rode past the bushes, and I was 10 yards for her dog. The dog just couldn't help himself, he came running out and barrelled into my rear wheel. Bike went down sideways, but I was standing on the pedals at the time and came strait down. I taco'ed the bars all the way over, bending them between the road and my chest

 

First thing I said to the old girl was that nothing was going to happen to her dog. She was visibly relieved. Then she offered to pay for my handlebars. These are $150 alloy bars, so I said "no thanks, but I need a ride home"

 

Home was 12 miles strait through the  mountains from there and I'd never ride the bike home over two more ridges with the handlebars like that

 

So she took me and my bike home and I changed handle bars

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