Shallow drop bars 25.4mm required

oldskaterdood
oldskaterdood Posts: 18
edited July 2011 in Road buying advice
Hi all.

Ive been away from road riding for a while and am getting back into it. On a shoe string i have just converted this old CB legend.. (chopped off the canti bosses for a cleaner look)

BEFORE

2011-02-20130732-2.jpg

AFTER

2011-05-06130200_Bridgwater_GB-2.jpg

Since this picture i have fitted a riser stem and corrected the angle of the bars, i have struggled in the past with wrist ache and pins and needles in my hands whilst riding however ive done around 250 miles on this and I'm getting on great with it.

The only niggle i have now is that the drops are too deep, ive spent about 4 million hours on the web looking for a shallower drop bar in 25.4mm clamp. I do have a stem converter but i don't want to use it. I find it hard to believe there's not something out there for me also money is very tight.

Any ideas would be greatly recieved.

Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Unlikely, Compact bars are a recent innovation and mainly come in 31.8. 25.4 is in fact the standard size for MTB bars, so finding any road bar in that size is quite tricky - try Nitto Randos from Hubjub. Your problem is made worse by using a quill stem which fell out of favour about 10 years ago. One of the few other options would be track down a used Cinelli Giro D'italia bar and stem - but they're pretty collectable and go for good prices on ebay.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

    So you'd have me believe that all drop handlebars had the same drop dimensions for 60 years?

    :roll: :lol: :roll:
  • OK, it looks like the way fwd for me is to invest in a new quill stem with 26.0mm clamp, these seem widely available and then will open up the choices of handlebars.
  • You could buy a new stem & bars from Planet X sale at the moment. I have the 3TTT Quid Quill stem & 3TTT Grand Prix Form bars. £9.99 each means you can do the whole thing for less than £20.
    time flies like an arrow
    fruit flies like a banana
  • WOW GR8 TY!

    Its ok to fit a 25.8mm bar in a 26.0 stem?
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    there are threaded steerer adaptors that will allow you to run an Aheadset stem on the fork.

    for example
    p_55958.jpg
    you just need to know what size you need.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • ty nicklouse, like i said in my 1st post, i have one of these but didnt fancy using it, only because i like the bike to stay looking old and slim.
  • So i picked me up the bars from planet x for £9.99 and nitto do nice tall stems in 26.0 clamp, im sorted!

    thanks for all your help.
  • Stanley222 wrote:
    Make sure you post a pic of the bike with the new bars on it! :wink:

    Hey thanks for showing an interest :lol::lol:

    Heres a pic of how it is now with my old bars and short riser stem, the stem has the equivalent reach of 60mm, im gonna go for the 70mm nitto stem and my shallower bars will allow me to run the bars a bit lower too.

    I know it looks a bit silly but even tho i got the saddle right fwd i refuse to beleive the bike is too small for me, its only a 19.5" frame and im 5'10, i got over 3" of top tube clearance but my arms are still locked when im on the drops. I keep reading that if my stem is shorter than 100mm then the bike is too large. Maybe i need a WSD :)

    100_4901-1.jpg

    I will post a pic with my new bars once ive got the stem.

    BTW im not far from you, im in bridgwater :wink:
  • yh im not gonna let the view if a few "purists" put me off, apparently the handling will be too sharp but my bike is a tourer realy and is very long, handles ok by my books.

    Lookin fwd to fitting my new bars but i cant really afford the £45 stem atm (what a state to get in)
    Im booked in for a discectomy on thursday and will need a few weeks to recover so no rush i guess.
    Would be fun to hook up sometime tho. Keep you posted.