Hi All!
Things change, among them handlebars, stems, and their shapes and dimensions. For a quick read on some reasons why this is so, see:
http://janheine.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/handlebars-old-and-new/After riding my Nomad for awhile,
I have decided I would like to change the Hsin Ling/Zoom Anatomic drop handlebars for something with a bit less drop and perhaps a smidge less reach.
This turns out to be a difficult task, thanks to evolving standards. Here is my dilemma...My preferred Kalloy Uno 3D forged stem (as the bike came fitted with) has a 25.4mm clamp diameter. It appears this has now become a 1-1/8" MTB standard in present offerings. Few current and apparently no (fairly or truly) compact drop road handlebars come in this center clamp diameter except Nittos. I am running a 44x25.4 Nitto B115 on my tandem and like it very much. The sides of the drops flare 10°, so I don't hit my wrists on the upper return when I'm on the drops. The problem? It has become pretty pricey in the says since I paid USD$39 for mine and it is um, silver. At the risk of sounding like a slave to fashion, I'd like it to match the rest of the Nomad's stealthy matte black attire. Besides, I can't disappoint the little neighbor boy who is convinced I am Batman when I ride it. If I went this route, I could keep my stem and perhaps sleeve the exposed part of the handlebar with something to paint it black (cue the Rolling Stones...).
1-1/8" road bike stems appear to have settled on 26.0mm clamps, with stem and 'bar diameters matching. Not too many of those seem to come in a shallow reach/drop in 44cm width. Bontrager do make one in a 26.0, but this would require a new stem. I successfully enlarged the center of several forged stems with an expanding brake cylinder reamer/hone, but I don't think I would have such good luck with a hatch-plate stem 'cos it "floats" on its mounting bolts and the hone plates would likely catch in the gaps. Same problem with a boring bar in a lathe. Again, not much metal has to be removed -- just 0.6mm in diameter, 0.3mm in radius. The trick is doing it evenly so it all comes out square.
The "new" standard for MTBs and road bikes is 31.8mm. This would seem to be fine for my needs; the 'bars have a shallower reach (my industry friends tell me this is to make up for the longer forward reach on brifter hoods) and a shallower drop. Trouble is, there's problems. I was just down at the Trek store and tried gripping some Bontrager VR-C compact 'bars on the showroom floor and found the "drop-pocket" is pretty cramped. I like to pad my 'bars pretty heavily, and it looks to me like my hands are going to be squeezed on the sharp forward return when braking from the drops -- as it was, with thin padded tape, I felt a bit pinched on these. And, too, I'd have to figure the cost of a new stem into the total.
31.8mm 'bars are also stiffer due to the larger center diameter. This is not a desirable trait in a touring application; some road shock absorption is nice on rough roads.
All of this is complicated by the addition of interrupter/cross-top levers and my Nomad's use of v-brakes. My Tektro RL740s are meant for small-diameter 'bars (24.0mm OD outside the center clamp) and v-brakes. The Tektro 700-series with 31.8 clamps are for caliper and cantilever brakes, not Vs. 31.8mm centers are pretty wide and don't appear to taper down in time to allow me to fit my smaller interrupter levers without running out of room where the tops of the 'bars curve forward.
It also turns out manufacturers are thinning and butting drop handlebars as yet another way to cut weight from road bikes, in some cases making them stupid-light and unsuitable for my touring needs. The local shop advises they now regularly replace such 'bars after even minor falls and parked fallovers 'cos the thin alu either bends noticeably or shows signs of cracking after. They are advising carbon drops be replaced annually for safety reasons even if they show no outward signs of damage. These things are pricey.
As I pointed out to Andre recently, "touring bikes" are changing and evolving to become less like drop-'bar road bikes and more like upright trekking bikes. At the same time, the Road/MTB split is becoming wider, and it appears Shimano's new 11-speed derailleurs/shifters are no longer directly interchangeable between Road/MTB due to different actuation ratios.
Taken altogether, this was enough to have me harrumphing and nattering to myself all the way home from the local bike shop.
Does anyone know of a 44cm or 45cm (at the ends; 44 at the tops) x 25.4mm drop handlebar with fairly short reach and drop that has the drops and tops pretty much parallel to each other -- that also comes in black is fairly inexpensive, and has reasonably thick-walled tubing? I've got my brain going in overdrive on this one, but am hoping someone might have something in mind before I have to come up with something really unusual.
Lacking this, does anyone know of a source for thinwall black silicone tubing in a 1in ID? I have seen cut-off sections of this used instead of tape to neatly secure the ends of wapped 'bar tape (See:
http://www.origin-8.com/?page_id=91&short_code=Bar+Sleeve&prod_model_uid=7223&cl1=GRIPS+%26+TAPE ). Going this route would let me get a Nitto B115 for as little as USD$45 and call it a day. Heat-shrink tubing in this diameter won't bend around the corners of the drops without distorting horribly before I can secure it in place; I tried.
If no luck, I'll pad and wrap the Zooms Anatomics and fit the interrupter levers 'cos I really do still prefer drops.
Thanks in advance.
All the best,
Dan. (...who feels like he unwittingly stepped into a TARDIS with a faulty chameleon circuit this afternoon)
