@
50voltphantom I am a big fan of the Soma Highway 1 bars. They come in 31.8mm clamp diameter as we know, but more importantly the 26.0mm diameter is offered. The ergonomic benefit while still keeping a classic quill is something I really appreciate. Still, as mentioned before, It's the getting from 'there' (a 1 1/8" threaded headset) to 'here' (a handlebar of choice that works well with a road-angled quill stem) that is the tricky part.
@
IAmSam thank you for the information and added context regarding 1 1/8" stems and headsets. I think what you've said helps date this frameset as some further research is putting that headset's time around the early '90s. Perhaps the lack of lugs and the presence of a unicrown-type fork also corroborate that as well. Mountain bikes have led the way in component durability (and thus beefiness) for a long time, so I can see the logic trickling into a track frame of that era--especially a large frame--due to the need to handle power.
I had the idea to find some sweet made in the USA Controltech stems as I think they look great in that '90s vintage sort of way. Alas, their road stems were 1" with their 1 1/8" and 1 1/4" stems being mountain geometry.
We live in a very good era of threadless stems. '90s through the mid '00s saw some dark days in stem land. 2-bolt clamps for 26.0mm bars, with 'ergo' bars working with brifters that hadn't fully shaken their brake-lever-only roots (hood to bar meet angle). What I call the "mountain range" bar/stem/brifter setup (up, down, up, down):
