Tandem Cycling - C'Dale handlebar diameters

Somebody please help me.
I've been scratching around on the internet for a half-hour (god-forsaken dial-up connection) and can't verify the handlebar diameters on an '05 RT1000. The captain's bar is bigger around where it clamps up than the stoker's. That much is clear. The rest I'm not sure about. Captain's bar is an FSA RD-250. Went to FSA site and found nothing.

How many handlebar diameters are there anyways?? I need a freakin' map :notamused:

Try calling Cannondale at 800-bikeusa. They've always had instant answers for our hardware questions.

What you really need is a cheap caliper. I found one at Boston Freight for $15 or so and it has saved me much frustration on determining things like this.

I know my 08 has an oversized I believe it was 31.8 when I switched the pitch on my stem for a trial run.

Craig

The captain's bar is bigger around where it clamps up than the stoker's. That much is clear.


What your describing is likely an "oversized" bar which in all likelyhood is 31.8mm, which is pretty much the standard for oversized bars these days.

Thanks, guys. Baldy, I was thinking the same thing. Even one of those plastic jobbies would work

Captains bar is 31.8. The strange one, however, is the stoker stem/bar at 25.4.

Just get a piece of string, wrap it around a few times around the bar, straighten it out and measure with a ruler. Divide by the number of revolutions to get an average circumference.

C = pi * D

(c = circumference, D = diameter).

You don't NEED calipers to work out something simple like this!

Regards.

You don't NEED calipers to work out something simple like this!

Well, you're right of course but I'm a simpleton. Such an elegant and simple solution (a piece of string and some basic math) wouldn't have occurred to me if my life depended on it.

True, but a caliper is a lot simpler when you are trying to figure out if the seat post is a 30.6 or a 30.9.

A caliper is a lot simpler... if you own one. ;)

As for working out tube diameters, if you use a thin string (i.e., use some thread) you will get very accurate measurements. Generally, you should be able to get a value to the tenth of a millimeter.

Regards.