Sunlite Cromo Quill Extender, Black

Although uncertain at first, this extension bar turned out to be a good fix to my stem problem.Useful information the vender did not provide:1. Flared section of the tube begins at about at center (approximately 4 inches). 4 inches of tube sticks above the headset lock nut.2. When fully seated, a length of approximately 3.8 inches (97 mm) exists from the top of inner cap screw (which tightens the Quill nut) to the top of the extension tube.3. The cap screw requires a hex head 6 mm (Allen) tool approximately 5-1/4 inches long if using L-shaped tool. If using a torque wrench, Neiko Log Hex Bit Socket Set, Metric 3 – 10mm (also sold by Amazon) will do the trick. This specific tool measures approximately 4-1/4 inches long from tip of Allen head to back of socket (face of ratchet). There is just enough socket showing to attach a 3/8” drive ratchet. Due to the shallowness of the cap screw and the required tightening torque, I don’t think a ball-end Allen tool will work. 3/8" drive extension bits should also work for shorter length sockets.4. A specific torque was not provided. My research suggested 20 to 30 Newton-meter (170-260 inch-pounds)(You’ll have to research what is appropriate for your situation). Because I did not have a strap wrench and did not want to mar the finish with channel locks, I was unable to torque all the way to 170 inch-pounds (14.166 foot-pounds). The technique used is to tighten the bolt in short, sudden, jerks rather than smooth, easy pulls. With the jerk method, the outer shaft will still spin, but the bolt will also tighten. This will not happen with easy pulls as bolt and unit only spin in unison as it begins to tighten. I was able to tighten the bolt to sufficient tightness so that the extension does not spin with the installed handle bars and attempting steering while keeping the wheel from twisting.5. One should also be prepared to change to longer brake and shifter cables and cable housings to accomodate the new, longer stem.6. Hopefully these notes will guide fellow cyclists sufficiently through the process.

I installed the quill extender on my TREK Verve 3 bicycle. It fitted well, in fact the fit seemed to be perfect. I tightened it firmly turning, the screw tighter then I thought necessary. I mounted the bike, rode 100 feet turned a corner and fell over as my handlebars swiveled loose. Luckily I fell on grass and suffered only indignity. I walked my bicycle back to my garage, tightened the screw on the quill extender even more to the point where I feared I might tear out the threads. I reattached the handlebars, mounted the bicycle, rode in a circle turning the handlebars enough to maintain the rough outline of a circle and fell over, this time onto my concrete driveway. I suffered only minor injuries. The handlebars had once again rotated because the quill extender had rotated. I thought I'd had enough and removed the extender. Without the extender, the handlebars worked perfectly again but were sadly not quite as high as I would have liked them. I have no doubt that this extender will work on many bicycles. It did not work on mine. Before relying on this extender be sure to test it as carefully as you can. The loss of handlebar control could be very dangerous. I was merely lucky because I fell in ways that did not cause much injury. But imagine if the handlebars came loose while riding in a bicycle lane on a busy city street!

Everyone is complaining about it not gripping right and they're correct but the problem is fixable.When you loosen the bottom bit, no part of it should EVER go inside the tube ever at all. The way the bottom piece is shaped, it leaves this little lip that can get caught INSIDE the tube if you're not extremely careful. If it's got a little lip inside the tube, there's no longer any pressure against the walls of the outer tube so it just slips around.This is 100% a manufacturer defect that should be addressed, however you can overcome it with some work and more patience than it should take.

Others have noted that the stem extender can slip or shift - really dangerous.There are two reasons this happens.First, the walls of extender are much thinner than a typical quill stem. This means the hollow center is larger and it is easier for the wedge to slip inside. As you tighten the bolt you are driving the wedge into the center of the extender which means almost none of the wedge is gripping the fork. This is more problematic on the 25.4 than the 22.2 because of the relative size of the opening to the walls.Second, as shown in the image, on the 25.4 the diagonal faces of the wedge and bottom edge of the extender were not machines parallel. As you tighten the bolt it literally pulls the point/tip of the wedge INTO the open center instead of along the parallel face.Poor quality control and poor design.I ground the face parallel and then tightened the bolt just enough that the extender would enter the fork but not enable the wedge to lose contact with the face it’s supposed to align with.

Bought this back in January of 2016 to raise my handlebars all was well until it came loose a few days after i installed it causing me to suffer a severe knee injury falling off my bike. Months later June 20, 2016 after using this stem extender i realise that the problem is not my handlebar wedge and bolt, the problem is for whatever the reason this Sunlite Cromo Quill Extender will not remain secure in the steerer tube like a normal quill stem wedge and bolt. I used it again yesterday but before my ride i thought i would test it and sure enough after tightening it securely with a long handle 6mm hex wrench, it still had play. This thing is dangerous and should be recalled....