Thread: 1985 Trek 420
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Old 11-16-09 | 03:05 PM
  #44  
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sunburst
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Bikes: Peugeot, Motobecane, Joannou, Kona, Specialized, Ironhorse, Royal Scot, Dahon

Originally Posted by craigcraigcraig

here is the bike. I had quite a time finding some bars that will fit in the stem for some reason.

Thanks
Craig
Stems have different clamp diameters. The (most common?) standard for older US, Japanese and English(?) bikes is 25.4mm. The new standard is 26.0mm. And old French bikes had 25.0mm, which I found out the hard way. I've seen mechanics force a 26.0mm bar into a 25.4mm stem, and a 25.4mm into a 25.0 stem, but the consensus on the mechanics' forum says this is a no-no.

So I'm guessing you've got a stem/bar incompatibility. Buy yourself a set of inexpensive digital calipers - best tool in my arsenal.
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