So, I'm officially an idiot...

for stripping out not one but 2 of the bolt holes on the stem of my Surly. I was swapping the bar and putting the new one in and as I was tightening it down suddenly the bolt got all loose. I thought "shit. I'll just make the other ones tighter" since the bike is pretty much a cruiser and then SNAP, the other thread gives. And then I put it away and came inside. I've never, ever done that before and I was just using a multitool to do it, I didn't have a real allen wrench with a long handle. Every other stem I've owned was able to be tightened a lot. So, go ahead and laugh all you want at my idiocy.

P.S. At least it was a cheap stem.

Ouch.

It happens to even the most experienced wrenches. As you said at least is was cheap.

once i had three of my stem bolts stripped, unbeknownst to me, (it was the inside threads that were stripped, not the actual piece the wrench goes in)
so i was riding crabapple hits, when i landed a jump and the bolts popped off, along with my handlebars! somehow i managed to ride it out for a bit with no hands, and i ended up in a ditch with miniman injuries :)

once i had three of my stem bolts stripped, unbeknownst to me, (it was the inside threads that were stripped, not the actual piece the wrench goes in)
so i was riding crabapple hits, when i landed a jump and the bolts popped off, along with my handlebars! somehow i managed to ride it out for a bit with no hands, and i ended up in a ditch with miniman injuries :)

that was you?!

maybe the bolts were too short and were just hanging on by a thread