

You won’t. When you loosen the stem bolt it’ll come up but it needs to go down so loosen it up maybe a half inch or so then hit the bolt head with a hammer. If you’re worried about messing up the bolt face then put a board or something on top of it and hit that. I used to use an old copy of glens complete bicycle manual as a go between for stem bolts and a four pound sledge.
E: it’s not always clear what’s going on. The stem bolt can keep the stem tight because the stems “base” (the part inside the tube) is cut through diagonally. The part at the bottom is what the stem bolt is actually attached to so when you tighten the bolt the part at the bottom slides out against the rest of the stem and becomes really tight inside the tube. When you loosen it it’s supposed to relieve that tension and become loose but actually it’s rusted in place so you gotta clink the bolt head with a hammer before the stem will come out.



The girl reading this.