I was asked by someone (who wanted to keep their bike in a small flat) whether daily loosening of the ahead stem bolts in order to turn the bars would be ok (from a safety point of view) Not being an engineer I was unable to answer but suspected it might eventually fatigue the bolts or internal thread on the stem itself .
Can anyone give a definitive answer or general advice . I know there are unusual stems designed for this purpose but he doesn’t want to spend money unnecessarily and I presume they are less solid in feel anyhow.
Many thanks in advance

Would taking the front wheel off and turning the bars not be easier?

Better off taking the front wheel out. Even if they use a torque wrench it’s going to be a bad idea I’d have thought. It’s only a matter of time before something bad happens.

Would taking the front wheel off and turning the bars not be easier?

Exactly what I do. Why mess with more bolts and ensure the bars are straight when you can just pull the wheel out.

What the others said

I had this issue in my shed with a full mudguard bike.
Ended up with one of these. It’s really nicely made and saves the day.https://www.starbike.com/en/by.schulz-twist-sds-stem-8-31.8mm-black/?currency=GBP&keep_params&gclid=CjwKCAiAtK79BRAIEiwA4OskBrmXvym2nq_yQdLcV7bty3b97DEr-wUi6ZtIftuFCscr1f8ZnIPtMhoCCWcQAvD_BwE#101244

Should have said …he has full length mudguards

Can’t believe I never thought about removing the wheel 🙄, anyway, I have been loosening the stem bolts for over 3 years on the bike I keep inside and it’s been fine so far…..might start removing the wheel now

That looks very nice Zippy but he has very limited funds hence the question .

Sounds promising Andy ..unless you’ve been lucky!

I normally see more issues with the hex wallowed out on bike fittings that customers constantly tighten/slacken. Decent allen keys, sensible torque and ensuring the hex bit is straight and seated fully go a long way.

Long term the alloy thread in the stem should wear before the steel bolt thread. If you tighten to failure the steel bolt normally strips the thread out of the aluminium stem.

Wot he said. No fatigue just wear to threads but if you grease them up it will help a lot, and you should notice them stripping if they ever do.

365 x per year isn’t a cyclic load of the order that iniates fatigue.

Look out for leap years though

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365 x per year isn’t a cyclic load of the order that iniates fatigue.

I was going to express concern about fatigue but antigee sounds like they know more about it than me.

I had (and still have) some Marzocchi forks with bolt through axles and I used to transport it by car a lot. The bolts heads are a bit sloppy, but they are harder to get to than stem bolts.

Try getting QR20 nuts. The wee ball bottom ones. Rarer than Super Monsters.

Edit:oh get TO. Never mind.

As for the stem, not an issue. Just be aware that adding grease means a lower torque has to be applied when tightening.

Can’t they just run the stem tight enough so it doesn’t slip whilst riding, but loose enough to move the bars with a bit of force? I do this on a bike that isn’t used much, zero faffing with bolts

Sounds like a good way to grind down the stem or steerer.

i would replace the alloy bolts with stainless and get a little clicky torque wrench

Get clip off mudguards

I’d have a mental fatigue issue from constantly trying to align my bars

Probably still too expensive, for the OP, but this just came up on my news feed.

https://www.revelo.ca/pages/thinstem

As a Brucie bonus, it looks like it introduces a fair bit of rise, too.