Don,
You might need another set of calipers to really know some
of these things for certain... It seems that yours are not
going to be accurate enough to measure the difference between a
22mm stem and a 22.2mm stem. But in lieu of measuring the
stem, you might try to insert a _known_ standard
Italian/English/Japanese (i.e. 22.2mm) stem into the head tube.
If it's just too big, you most likely have a French bike. (If
it fits, it still might be a French bike.)
By the way, it's hard to imagine the bike has a French
dimension seat tube if the seat post is over 27.2mm in
diameter. Actually, it's impossible for this kind of bike.
Good luck,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
> At 12/12/2005 08:06 PM -0800, you wrote:
> >Still plugging on my mystery bike. Several persuasive
> >guesses of a British bike, likely a Raleigh. But, it
> >has Stronglight 93 cranks, a Strong seat post, an
> >Ideale Peau-Mousse seat, Mafac Racer brakes and an Ava
> >alloy stem (Allen head fastener for tightening in head
> >set). Plus it feels possibly French now that I've
> >ridden it with a decent pair of Mavics that let one
> >feel the frame/fork work. The seat post is about 27.5
> >mm. My caliper is not state of the art. Again, it
> >weighs and plinks like butted tubing. How can one
> >tell, short of pulling the cranks from the bottom
> >bracket and checking the threading? I'd like not to.
>
> Older French bikes typically had 26mm top tubes and 28mm seat
> and
> down tubes. Maybe they still do for all I know.
> Everyone else (?) used 1" (25.4mm) top tubes and 1-1/8"
> (28.6mm)seat
> and down tubes.
>
>
> Mark Stonich;
> Minneapolis Minnesota
> http://mnhpva.org
> http://bikesmithdesign.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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