flipped North Roads rotation
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flipped North Roads rotation
Does anyone else have trouble riding flipped North Road bars? I've made myself a conversion copy of the Pashley Guv'nor, and have found that when i put a lot of weight on the end of the bars (for example, when I go over an unexpected bump or when I brake hard), the bars tend to rotate down a bit, even when the stem is set fairly tight.
Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, did you find a fix (or an alternative set of bars with similar aesthetics)?
Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, did you find a fix (or an alternative set of bars with similar aesthetics)?
#2
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I've ridden a couple of bikes like this and never had this problem. Are you sure you've got matching stem clamp and bar clamp-area diameter?
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Velocommuter Commando
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I'm pretty sure I have matching bar clamp/stem size - last I checked, the Nitto Young stem I was using was a 25.4, and I don't know that Nitto makes a North Road handlebar with clamp diameter smaller than that.
It's certainly feels like a very tight fit, but has had issues during riding. Perhaps my stem has issues...
It's certainly feels like a very tight fit, but has had issues during riding. Perhaps my stem has issues...
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It's really hard to diagnose the reason for this kind of problem. Often the stem and handlebar both have striations to prevent this kind of slippage, and once those striations have gotten worn down by a little slippage, the problem gets worse. You may be able to solve it by cleaning both surfaces; or by tightening the bolt more; or by putting something (a shim; sandpaper or other grit; epoxy or other glue/cement; &c) in there to increase pressure and/or friction. If it's a steel bar and a steel stem, I'd just tighten it more. If the jaws of the stem clamp are bottoming out against one another, you may want to file away a bit of material so you can tighten them more. You can sometimes do this with a broken hacksaw blade without even removing the handlebar, though you do have to remove the clamp bolt.
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Stem cinch bolt stretching similar to the issue with seatpost binder bolts which can also cause slippage?
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Also, you might want to try to line up the striations: this gives the clamp a little better bite, and you may find you'd been sliding the bar into these marks when they start to tilt down. This has the effect of catching the bar, but still making it feel loose.
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I know that a lot of the carbon bikes I work on have slipping issues, and I typically use carbon assembly paste to ride that situation, but am unsure what to do here...
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I weigh 240 lbs and dont have this problem leaning down on flipped North Roads
Bottom line, there is a friction problem at the clamp - stuffed bolt, clamp too big, etc, as above posts.
Bottom line, there is a friction problem at the clamp - stuffed bolt, clamp too big, etc, as above posts.
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Thanks for the thoughts, all! The stem was from a co-op find, so it may not have been in the best condition. I've noticed that it sits more loosely on the bar than the usual stems I've seen (the stem hole measures a full 25.5 when opened) so maybe an extremely thin shim would help.
Drietz, do you know what compound carbon assembly paste is? Is it like epoxy or a more common adhesive?
Drietz, do you know what compound carbon assembly paste is? Is it like epoxy or a more common adhesive?
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