Originally Posted by
saulgoldie
Thanks to all for your thoughtful comments. I took the parts to a bike shop that I trust. And the mechanic pointed out that you need to have the open part of the stem on the inside of the bend of the bars. All the stems went on the new bars without incident. I feel like such a nimnul!
Anyway, the right sized stems are now on the bikes. And I have no excuse for not riding!
Saul
Saul, this is what I was trying to get across, that you needed to turn the bars, rotate the bars, to get them through the stern.
Well, now you understand!
We all went through this at one point and learned.