Stem for late-70s Nishiki

[Sam Huffman]

My dad has a late-70s (he's not sure of the exact year) Nishiki road bike that he's trying to get
adjusted. A friend of his determined that he needs a taller stem.

They measured the stem at 53/64", but I haven't been able to find this size anywhere on the web.
Harris Cyclery's stem page (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/head.html#stems) mentions 13/16" on
some older American bikes, and 22mm on some French bikes, but no 53/64".

I haven't been able to find 53/64" stems anywhere locally or on the web; can anyone suggest a
source for this?

Thanks, Sam

 

[Josh Gatts]

"Sam Huffman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
>
> My dad has a late-70s (he's not sure of the exact year) Nishiki road bike
that
> he's trying to get adjusted. A friend of his determined that he needs a
taller
> stem.
>
> They measured the stem at 53/64", but I haven't been able to find this
size
> anywhere on the web. Harris Cyclery's stem page
> (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/head.html#stems) mentions 13/16" on
some
> older American bikes, and 22mm on some French bikes, but no 53/64".
>
> I haven't been able to find 53/64" stems anywhere locally or on the web;
can
> anyone suggest a source for this?
>
> Thanks, Sam

Are you sure it's not 7/8"? That's the standard size stem for a 1" steerer, which is almost
certainly what the Nishiki has. This size is often referred to as 1", which is obviously the size of
the steerer it goes into, not the stem itself.

--Josh

 

[A Muzi]

"Sam Huffman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
>
> My dad has a late-70s (he's not sure of the exact year) Nishiki road bike
that
> he's trying to get adjusted. A friend of his determined that he needs a
taller
> stem.
>
> They measured the stem at 53/64", but I haven't been able to find this
size
> anywhere on the web. Harris Cyclery's stem page
> (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/head.html#stems) mentions 13/16" on
some
> older American bikes, and 22mm on some French bikes, but no 53/64".
>
> I haven't been able to find 53/64" stems anywhere locally or on the web;
can
> anyone suggest a source for this?
>
> Thanks, Sam

The size is the no-longer-popular "USA" size. That is a headset with a standard 1"x24 thread but the
steerer is thicker. You'll find those stems on Nishikis, their predecessor American Eagle and a few
other Japanese bikes from the late sixties through mid-seventies and of course American built bikes
such as the Schwinn Continental, varsity, etc, Continentals had an interesting and well-finished GB
stem in the early seventies for example. Those bikes can be found occasionally in thrift stores
cheap but the stems are uniformly not tall.

There are ugly heavy cheap tall ( but perfectly functional and bulletproof) steel stems readily
available such as Wald's #511 ( eleven inches tall!) for
25.4 handlebars.

Else consider getting a new fork. 27" replacement forks of pedestrian quality are twenty or thirty
dollars in chrome. Consult your friendly competent LBS. After that you're cleared for takeoff on the
Technomic flight plan.

What you have, BTW is described properly as an 0.833" stem.

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

[Sam Huffman]

"A Muzi" <[email protected]> writes:

> There are ugly heavy cheap tall ( but perfectly functional and bulletproof) steel stems readily
> available such as Wald's #511 ( eleven inches tall!) for
> 25.4 handlebars.
>
> Else consider getting a new fork. 27" replacement forks of pedestrian quality are twenty or thirty
> dollars in chrome. Consult your friendly competent LBS. After that you're cleared for takeoff on
> the Technomic flight plan.
>
> What you have, BTW is described properly as an 0.833" stem.

Thanks! I'll pass the information on to my dad. Sounds like the new fork is the way to go.

Sam

 

[Josh Gatts]

Oops, sorry for the misinformation. Mr. Muzi knows his stuff!

--Josh