I've had this question too. There really isn't a lot out there for traditional headset mounting on a 1" steer tube. Many vintage bikes have only enough room on the steer tube and headset stack to allow for a thin steel vintage type cable hanger. This limits you to:

- Vintage MAFAC. They work fine, but do flex a bit. There are two models, as verktyg mentioned, but even the fancier one flexes, albeit less. Looks elegant.

- Dia Compe / Weinmann: IMO these are probably the best of the vintage type. Not exactly elegant appearance, but they are stiffer than MAFAC and the QR can be handy. I find that the built in QR of may TRP RRL levers isn't quite enough when running GP4000 28c tires on A23 rims.

- generic knock offs of the above. Rivendell sells a generic aluminum one that might be a bit stiffer than vintage, if you have a couple extra mm.

- A stem with a cable stop. This was once very common. Not great if you fiddle with your position a lot, but for those that tend to leave stem height alone, it's an elegant way to go. People used to drill holes in aluminum quill stems. I think I'd go cro-mo with this method, because I can't help myself when I see a gravel road when I'm on my touring bike.


For a more modern bike or if you have just a tiny bit more steer tube and headset stack to work with, that Fairweather/Nitto hanger looks great to me. Very cool design. FWIW I've ordered stuff directly from Fairweather, and it has been no problem. I've eyeballed those stops before, and thought about putting the 1 1/8" version on my Mercian, along with a matching nickel finished Nitto stem. It'd be a nice way to get a more retro look. Never did it though, since my current setup is fine.

There are of course many modern aluminum stops if you've got 1 1/8" threadless set up, and they work well. The extra stiffness gives more of a precise feel to the brakes.