Dear Greg, in reply to your question about the correction factor for center ing the removal tool for thicker dia. bar end corks of Italian manufacture, contrary to popular belief and common sense, the equation is not std Frenc h dia X Italian dia. / 100 added to std dia., but theoretic hight of the ti de at Milan / 3.1416 X circumference of bar inner dia. This is mainly due t o softer and cheaper shiny material found on Italian bikes which has a rand om distortion factor. In other words, oil it and whack it in with a croquet mallet. As to mixing French and Italian corks, we have found this to be da ngerous, as Ialian corks having a lower density and reliabilty factor, on s teep descents air pressure increase within the bars can cause the Italian c ork to shoot out of the bars with a bang which can scare the pants off you, and badly upset the handling of your bike. Regarding English corks, little data is available, as the vinyards of England total about twenty five vines. One assumes that Vintage port corks with shims is the normal p rocedure.
And with that I shall refrain from further discussion unless offlist of thi s topic, lest I incur the wrath of the listmeister. Nevertheless, fun apart , bar end corks are not a joke, they really were very commonly used over he re. And I fit them to all my pre 1970 bikes.
Nick March, Agen, Lot et Garonne, France
--- En date de : Jeu 5.6.08, CyclArt Shop <shop@cyclart.com> a écrit
:
> De: CyclArt Shop <shop@cyclart.com>
> Objet: RE: [CR]Correct bar end removal and replacement
> À: "C R List" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Cc: nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr
> Date: Jeudi 5 Juin 2008, 20h43
> Nick,
>
> I appreciate you taking the time to cover this important
> detail, and to
> provide such accurate measurements. In the interest of
> doing it even more
> right, have a few follow-up questions:
>
> Don't French and Italian corks work equally well on
> either side of a
> handlebar? I thought they were only different diameter. I
> know you have to
> be careful with Swiss corks to make sure they go in the
> correct side.
> Luckily I have the correct tool for them: a Swiss knife
> with the built-in
> bar end remover.
>
> What is the correction factor for centering the screw into
> the larger
> Italian corks?
>
> I also noted no mention of English corks. Perhaps you would
> be so kind to
> cover that in a follow-up, or persuade one of your friends
> across La Manche
> to do so.
>
> Thanks, however, for no mention of the new screw-on or
> synthetic
> abominations found on many new bicycle handlebars.
>
> Greg Reiche
> CyclArt
> Vista, CA USA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org
> [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of
> Nick March
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 3:09 PM
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]Correct bar end removal and replacement
>
>
> Well, it's been a litle while since I made a positive,
> usful contribution t
> o the list, so I'd like to point you to an article I
> have written on bar en
> ds, or plugs, call them what you will. This often neglected
> little detail s
> poils many an otherwise perfect restoration, so getting it
> right is importa
> nt.
>
> The article is at
> http://membres.lycos.fr/
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