barkmadly wrote:I recently bought a round extension stem without a key but with provision for one on the bar clamp. I bought it fully aware so I am not whinging (thank you silverlight).
My penchant of old iron and the fact these stems are so rare meant I didn't care if the key has been removed. Or has it? There is no evidence of a key at all.
Does anyone know of a keyless version? If it has been carefully filed off then trip to my preferred cycle engineer will sort it.
As an aside, I have a photo (taken about 200 metres from where I live) of riders who had participated in a race in 1910 - of the 20 or so bikes in the pic, most had round extension stems and only a few had the earlier stems with no extension ie. bars sitting immediately atop the stem
Cinelli produced a version known as the Stayer (Mod. 4) in which the round extension was serrated, presumably to negate slippage. These were aften seen on motor paced machines (stayers) and also in six day races, sometimes with the bars turned up when riders had to stay on the track during neutralisation periods.
These stems are now highly collectible, and expensive. I think other Italian makers (Ambrosio??) may also have produced similar models.
Re the use of the term "Major Taylor" on diamond extensions, my understanding was that it was a recent innovation. But Finlay Bros - makers of The Barb - offered a "Major Taylor Diamond Extension" on its Barb Utility and Clubman models in the 1930s. Perhaps the inclusion of "diamond" was necessary to distinguish it from the original (round) Major Taylor extensions.
My guess, the diamond extensions were more reliable on a utility bike and also allowed the makers to produce a minimum number of frame sizes while meeting the needs of most customers.
Ted
.
)
