Can upgrade my 87 mongoose decade pro front end

Question

i have 87 decade pro frame it go good wheels and crank but its has the standard neck where you put bearings on the forks slide them through the neck put the upper bearings in then use the big nut to hold the forks in then the stem slides in the forks and tighten the middle bolt to hold it in,

could upgrade to the modern setup where the stem is clamped to the forks if so how would i do it (pic perfered)

Answer 1

The correct term for the new system is "threadless steerer". The steerer is the tube welded onto the fork blades that goes through the headtube and headset. Although 1" steerers are still quite common on road bikes, and there are even some companies that use a quill stem (like the one you have now) an upgrade will easily cost more than the bike is worth.

There would be no real performance difference by making this change other than losing the majority of your handlebar height adjustment, so in my opinion it really isn't worth the money or aggravation.

Answer 2

You'll need to buy a new headset, new fork, and new stem. You'll end up spending way more than your bike is worth, unless you can find good used stuff. On that age of bike, you'll also be confined to using a 1" diameter steerer tube on the fork (and a 1" headset). That size of fork is getting rarer, (now 1 1/8" is common). I'd advise against this upgrade...