avhed

With a minor modification, can you do this? I have seen a stem that will tighten down on smaller bars. Can the 1A be made to do so?

Litespud

use a beer can shim if necessary

Andrew R Stewart 

I would suggest strongly to shim the bars to the 26.4 spec. A .008" shim stock will work if the shim goes around the bar fully. Which is around the thickness of a soda can. The cost of a crack started stem, but not caught until... is priceless. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

so, if an auto company supplies a wheel that fits their hubs slightly loose to make at home wheel changes easier, but the wheels fall off due to the differences of fit, they should be absolved of responsibility? Andy

thook

lol....sorry. Andrew R Stewart if your above reply was in response to the post i just deleted. i didn't see you'd posted before i did that. iow's, i didn't delete what i wrote because of your post. i just realized what i said could be cause for some heat and didn't want to go there. not because i don't back what i wrote, but because heat is not helpful to the OP or topic

i will say i don't think it's entirely fair to compare the circumstances. automobiles have a lot more stress going between their parts.

Andrew R Stewart 

thook- Thanks for the follow up. When I write advice for others I feel the need to, generally, take the high road in safety. Some stems can take the added clamping stresses, others less so. What worries me is that once installed, most critical parts don't get much close up attention and tiny cracks in Al parts can grow quickly. With drop bars the initial warning might be a rotational slipping of the bars. Andy

mpetry912 

the main thing is, if you do this, you are risking a failure of the stem. Aluminum has less tolerance to fatigue cycles than does steel.

Easy to make shims from beer cans, or use brass shim stock. you can buy peel off shim stock at any hard

resist the urge to just "crank it down". I'm with Andrew above. Err on the side of caution. these parts are now 30+ years old

/markp

thook

yeah, i get that. and, surely we don't know who we're talking to when making suggestions.
i fall back a little on the fact that cinelli (95% sure it was them) had at one point made a size handlebar or stem....don't recall which....that could fit between two different sizes they offered that weren't too far apart. however, i don't remember the sizes.<<sigh>> i know it's somewhere discussed in the C&V forum. of course, they don't make those parts/sizes anymore and maybe it's because it wasn't a good idea, but i've also not read of anyone having problems even IF those parts are old.
anyway, making concessions can be problem, but nitto and SR (what i've used and tinkered with) making durable parts. i'd like to say cinelli does, too. i just haven't had any practical experience with the brand. is a 1A designed lightweight using lighter material than say a technomic or SR custom quill? if so, maybe it isn't a stem to be experimenting around with. in the end, using a shim is of no detriment. a trimmed up soda can works great, of course. all the better if the bars have a grooved sleeve

avhed

I believe that is the 3 ttt 25.8 bars and a 26.0 stem, which is only half the difference.

thook

fair enough.