CEarly said:I am aware of the recent thread regarding handlebar/stem fit issues, but
am still wondering how fast either component is likely to fail if I cram my
25.8mm dia bars into the 25.4mm clamp on a stem I'd like to use.
Much of the answer will be materials-dependent, and the rest
usage-dependent. A steel clamp of the old style would be unlikely to
have any longevity usses. A die-cast aluminum clamp very well might
crack on installation, or it might work for a while, or it might work
for a long time. Forged aluminum might last longer. .4mm is about
0.016", which is a pretty good amount of size mismatch for that spot
in my estimation. I'd try to find somponents to make a better match.
Quoted message said:The
emminent Mr. Brown's voluminous website states that 25.4mm clamp area
diameter is the "ISO standard" for road bars, but you sure wouldn't know
that from what's on the market in the US. Everything is 25.8, 26.0, 31.7,
or 31.8mm. A fair number of bars, including the Ritchey Pro bars that I
have and like the shape of, are 25.8mm. At least in my perusing of stems
there are few, if any, in a 25.8 clamp dia.
Oddball-dimension parts are annoyingly likely to crop up, but support
for them can be scant. (People who have the misfortune to own a frame
that requires a peculiar diameter to seat post are probably the most
numerous victims of thsi sort of thing.)
Quoted message said:Yeah, I know I can buy a Nitto bar in 25.4mm dia, but I don't like the
shape.
You're not alone. There are other suppliers, though.
Quoted message said:So, what's the deal? Are 25.8mm dia bars "...designed to be usable in
either ISO (25.4) or Italian (26.0) size stems", as Sheldon says on his
site, or not? BTW, I know they work fine in 26.0mm stems because I have
many miles on that arrangement.
It might work. It might not. I will observe that as long as you are
willing to accept the possibility that the failure might accur, and as
long as you're checking the clamp regularly and often for signs of
splitting, there's probably not a lot of risk in simply lashing it
together to see what happens. If it's an old-style stem that doesn't
use a removable cap on the bar clamp, I suspect that as long as you
can get the bars installed, the likelihood of a failure is probably
close to zero. I'd be more worried with the later-style stems,
myself.
--
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