Phil_gretz

Hello all. I'm not posting this in mechanics, thinking that the C&V crowd will have more experience.

I'm doing a 1982 build, and purchased a set of polished drilled Dia Compe standard levers on eBay. The stamped steel mounting bands have the slotted nut as usual. Last night I went to fit them (the bands only, not with the lever heads) onto the bars, and it's too tight. The bar measures ~24mm with my calipers, and the band is stamped "22".

Is this a common problem? Are there longer standard bands? There's not enough metal to reshape it to reach to bind the nut in its slot(s).

I have plenty of sheet metal of various thicknesses and finishes. I'm thinking that I'll fabricate a pair of identical bands, but with approximately 6mm more length in the center. Should take less than 40 minutes, will be hidden beneath bar tape, and will solve the problem.

I'd be interested if any of you have found this to be the case.

Phil

randyjawa 

Sounds to me like you got hold of a set of Dia Compe levers that were intended for use on a steel road bar, which has the smaller diameter. All you should need to do is find some larger clamp bands which should not be too hard to do.

rccardr 

Yep, and they don;t necessarily have to be Dia Compe bands, either. Ran into the same problem with a set of 70's levers and wound up using Shimano bands and bolts. Fit perfectly, just had to shorten the mounting bolt a little.

ColonelJLloyd 

You have bands meant for MTB bars (22.2mm). You need ones marked 23.8-24.0 or whatever it is they read.

Phil_gretz

A phone call to my friends at Papillon Cycles in Arlington, VA (where they fix, restore, and sell bikes of all types) - and they fixed me up with a pair of NOS 23.5's with the nuts from their parts bin. Also picked up a white Sugino dustcap.

Thanks for the comments, guys.
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Phil