Custom Stems and Racks

[cjroot2004]

Hello all!

I am thinking of branching into custom bike stems and racks (for personal use only). I see that Ceeway offers "lugs" for rack tubing. Anyone have experience with these? Where would one get the appropriate tubing? Also, are there any online resources/tutorials/"stickies" for custom stems? Thanks!

Christopher Root

[Rody]

Hey Christopher,

Thanks for stopping by.

You've picked two accessories that are a lot more complex to construct than they appear at first glance, but can be truly enjoyable with some time and patience.

For rack tubing, most folks tend to use straight gauge 4130 available from a variety of resources; Wicks, Aircraft Spruce, etc..

These are typically shaped using hand tubing benders, coped using round files, and joined with fillet brass or tig. This process allows for free flowing forms, which are less restrictive than defined "lugs" or joints. The use of a lathe is especially handy for turning down rack tangs/eyelets to slip fit inside the tube diameter for attaching to the frame.

Eric at Winter does some very aesthetic racks...jump on his Instagram for inspiration.

As for stems, the size and shape vary wildly dependent on your application. Everything from lugged kits to tig and fillet joinery can be seen. Though a small piece, proper fabrication is ESSENTIAL, as this little piece carries a lot of stress. The sections that make up a stem are often short, so feel free to go with thicker walls on your tubing for safety's sake until you are well experienced with both the fabrication techniques and designing for anticipated forces. Nothing less than .049 is needed for your work.

My blog is littered with stem and bar stem combo process shots; everything from LD stems, high rise, short DJ, etc... can be found. Follow this link for some reading info: Groovy Cycleworks 330-988-0537: Search results for stem

Please feel free to follow up here once you've done some reading and have more focused questions.

cheers,

rody

[Eric Estlund]

Just to echo Rody's sentiment, stems are vital pieces of kit. Better to overbuild them then test the waters on making something not up to the stress. Your joining method needs to be on , be it brazed or welded.