Hoping this is a real simple question? -Handlebar shims..?
07-31-10, 02:30 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Freehold, NJ
Posts: 37
Bikes: Trek 7000 with modified bars, bar end mirrors, rear rack, clamp on forward bar grips, and Brooks B68 saddle.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hoping this is a real simple question? -Handlebar shims..?
I replaced the bar on my Trek 7.0. However the new aluminum bar is a bit narrower, and some older Performance extension-bar add-ons I have will no longer clamp down tight on this bar! The bar measures about 2.1mm dia, but so do the extension clamps, giving me no room to tighten them! 
So, does anyone know where I can get two handlebar shims (about 1" wide ea) to increase the bar's fatness? Tape wouldn't be strong enough, I need something in metal or very tough plastic I think.
Thanks..
So, does anyone know where I can get two handlebar shims (about 1" wide ea) to increase the bar's fatness? Tape wouldn't be strong enough, I need something in metal or very tough plastic I think.
Thanks..
07-31-10, 03:07 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New Rochelle, NY
Posts: 38,671
Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter
Mentioned: 140 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5767 Post(s)
Liked 2,541 Times
in
1,407 Posts
2.1cm or mm? I assume cm, but I'm still a bit confused.
Standard mtn handlebars are 7/8" (22.2mm) in diameter at the working ends, regardless of material. All grips and bar ends are sized for that, otherwise we'd all go nuts dealing with compatibility in grips, bar ends, and whatnot. Check your measurement again. It's also possible that your end wont clamp tight because you have a thin walled bar, which needs an internal support to keep it from shrinking a bit when clamped.
Standard mtn handlebars are 7/8" (22.2mm) in diameter at the working ends, regardless of material. All grips and bar ends are sized for that, otherwise we'd all go nuts dealing with compatibility in grips, bar ends, and whatnot. Check your measurement again. It's also possible that your end wont clamp tight because you have a thin walled bar, which needs an internal support to keep it from shrinking a bit when clamped.
__________________
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
07-31-10, 10:44 PM
#5
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Freehold, NJ
Posts: 37
Bikes: Trek 7000 with modified bars, bar end mirrors, rear rack, clamp on forward bar grips, and Brooks B68 saddle.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
2.1cm or mm? I assume cm, but I'm still a bit confused.
Standard mtn handlebars are 7/8" (22.2mm) in diameter at the working ends, regardless of material. All grips and bar ends are sized for that, otherwise we'd all go nuts dealing with compatibility in grips, bar ends, and whatnot. Check your measurement again. It's also possible that your end wont clamp tight because you have a thin walled bar, which needs an internal support to keep it from shrinking a bit when clamped.
Standard mtn handlebars are 7/8" (22.2mm) in diameter at the working ends, regardless of material. All grips and bar ends are sized for that, otherwise we'd all go nuts dealing with compatibility in grips, bar ends, and whatnot. Check your measurement again. It's also possible that your end wont clamp tight because you have a thin walled bar, which needs an internal support to keep it from shrinking a bit when clamped.
And I'm not talking about bar end extensions here either, I'm talking about curved, forward riser extensions, that have opening clamps so they can be screwed down together around any section of the handlebar. These extensions fit okay on several of my previous stock and chromed bars, but on my new aluminum ones they will not tighten down far enough to hold, because the bar is thinner!
I don't think beer or soda can aluminum will work here either... One thickness of it would be too thin; I'd need possibly 3 or 4 thicknesses, and so the possibilities of it sliding around and not holding are fairly good...
08-01-10, 10:40 AM
#6
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Santa Monica,San Diego
Posts: 80
Bikes: Cruzbike Silvio 2.1 T50
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
08-01-10, 11:42 AM
#7
17yrold in 64yrold body
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Northern CA
Posts: 922
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
When you say "...because the bar is thinner!", do you mean it is smaller in diameter, or the walls of the tubing are thinner (as FBinNY suggested)? If they are smaller in diameter, then you could come up with something for a shim. If, however, the walls of the tubing are thinner, then the strengthener that FBinNY suggested might be the only way to make them work. If you are trying to mount in an area that is inaccessable for a strengthener, you may be in for more trouble than these bars are worth. Only you can decide how much trouble is TO MUCH trouble.
Last edited by badamsjr; 08-01-10 at 11:54 AM.
08-03-10, 09:12 AM
#8
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Freehold, NJ
Posts: 37
Bikes: Trek 7000 with modified bars, bar end mirrors, rear rack, clamp on forward bar grips, and Brooks B68 saddle.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Okay, found the problem... It wasn't with the bars but with the one of the extension clamps. Evidently it had stretched open a bit because of repeated tightening..? I put a piece of plumber's pipe wrap inside the clamp, and now it wraps around the bar firmly enough!
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, ">})
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, ">})
