Steve Freides wrote:
>My newly-acquired, to-be-ridden-for-the-first-time-tomorrow, Meteor came
>with a Milremo stem in a very short size, not surprising given the bike's
>relatively long top tube, but not what I need. The bar is probably not the
>original as its a Sakae randoneur style, and it has a 25.4 diameter, so I
>assume the Milremo stem is made for that size.
25.4 mm (1 inch) is and has been the standard British size for
aluminium bars. (They used to use 15/16 for steel bars.)
>I will need a 12 or 13cm stem to make the bike fit me correctly; a 13 if I
>get to use the short-reach bars of my choice, a 12 for a normal reach bar.
>Given that frames were sized larger then, I suspect a 12 or 13cm stem might
>be hard to find, but I'd really like to keep everything about the bike as
>period correct as I can, with the possible exception of the bar itself (more
>below).
>
>Friend and fellow list member Chris Beyer has suggested a GB stem as a
>period-correct alternative and, since he might have one in a size that's at
>least closer to what I need, that may be what goes on there for tomorrow.
That would be the most appropriate thing, "Forged Hiduminium" with matching GB bars. Some racy bikes of this period used Titan bars & stems with their proprietary 27 mm diameter, but I don't recall ever seeing these on a tourer.
Sheldon "37 cm" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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