Great Lakes - 24.5 mm stem in Chicago

I have finally purchased my beater bike, and being an OCP roadie in real life I want to (have to?) upgrade certain components to fit me better. I want to replace the bars and the brake levers. I have recently moved to Chicago, so I don't know the shop scene too well here. Are there any shops in the area that would sell 24.5 mm bars? All the bars I use are the standard 31.8 mm, so I don't even know if they make 24.5 (1 inch) drop bars anymore.

Thanks for any input!


Charlie

I'd say you'd need the quill adaptor ~$11 at Lickbike in Oak Park, and a new stem for $15-30 off ebay.

Thanks for the suggestion! To make sure, do you mean this (http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB=%271089-01%27)?

yep make sure you know if you have a 1" or 1 1/8" threaded headset. Also I'd get the 28.6mm outside diameter as almost all stems nowadays are 1 1/8" threadless. unless of course you have a 1" threadless lying around.

I'm not sure but I don't think the OP is asking about threaded vs. threadless.

And yes, they still make 25.4 bars and stems : http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/HB402A09-Easton+Ea30+Flat+Bar+08.aspx

Can't get any better than that thar bar!

I took the suggestion and drove out to Lick Bikes. They were extremely helpful, while working very hard to keep the cost down. I bought a 25.4 mm bar (http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB=%271111-44%27), some new brake pads, brake cables, cable housing, and some bar tape. I installed them all last night, and it is a big improvement (the bike will stop now).

The best suggestion was that since I am running 700c wheels on a bike built for 27'' rims, that instead of buying long reach brakes for some real money, I just take a round file and extend the hole in the brakes by about 1 or 2 mm, which is all I needed.

Thanks!

I took the suggestion and drove out to Lick Bikes. They were extremely helpful, while working very hard to keep the cost down. I bought a 25.4 mm bar (http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB=%271111-44%27), some new brake pads, brake cables, cable housing, and some bar tape. I installed them all last night, and it is a big improvement (the bike will stop now).

The best suggestion was that since I am running 700c wheels on a bike built for 27'' rims, that instead of buying long reach brakes for some real money, I just take a round file and extend the hole in the brakes by about 1 or 2 mm, which is all I needed.

Thanks!

I'd go a step farther and say, verify you need to modify the calipers at all, by just installing teh new shoes/pads and see if they hit the rim ok.

Otherwise, Lickton's is da bomb!

I'd go a step farther and say, verify you need to modify the calipers at all, by just installing teh new shoes/pads and see if they hit the rim ok.

Otherwise, Lickton's is da bomb!

I do need to move them down by a tiny amount, and that is what prompted the discussion at the shop. I filed the hold about 1 mm or less, and now the pads hit the rims squarely.