Connecting The Pieces – Bike Stems
The purpose of a bike stem is to connect the handlebars to the bike fork’s steerer tube. A stem forms part of either a threadless or a quill system. For threadless systems, a clamp is used to slide over the fork steerer and literally clamp into place. For the quill system, which is largely used on older bikes, the stem is threaded into the steerer of the fork and a screw and wedge lock it into place.
