Well I started my last thread with some disclaimers and an apology and I am afraid I am going to do that again. I have searched for hours online to find an answer to this because I think it may be a stupid question and I did not want to bother you folks with it, but I am still non the wiser. Please can you help? I have an old Reynolds 531 bike frame and I have two handlebar stems that fit it. One of them is pretty the other nasty. But I want to get some new bars (Nitto B123 orB125) The pretty stem is Cinelli and has a 26.4 clamp size, which I could shim but perhaps as the gap is so large it would be nice to get a new stem and sell the old ones.
My trouble is I can’t really tell what diameter the stem itself is. My searches online have said that the smallest standard size is 1” but my stem is smaller. I have some very technical callipers that I find difficult to use and on those the current stems seem to be about 22.5 mm (a little less than 0.9 inch). Just to be extra clear, this is the tube that fits into the frame size, not the clamp size. Is this an old size of stem? or have I got the whole thing wrong? I was thinking that it couldn’t be too unusual as I have two of these stems. Do you know what the official size of this stem is and could I get one to fit the 24.4 Nitto bars? I have see quills that are advertised as ‘22.2mm (standard 1")’ but 22.2 mm is not equal to 1 inch, and my measuring skills may be poor but I don’t think my stem is as small as 22.2. I am feeling a bit tired now so I could be wrong. Most search results end up talking about clamp size. Few want to talk about stem diameter. Is this a conspiracy? I am pretty certain I am being dumb and missing something obvious here. Perhaps I should just risk getting the standard 1” but I want to be sure.
Sorry if this is an old question that has been asked before. After much searching I can’t find it on this forum either and I must go to bed some time tonight. Thank you if you are willing to help.