Right now I am trying to slide a new handlebar into my Nitto Technomic stem. This one is especially tight going through the curves -- is there some trick to this? I've already scratched up the finish on the handlebar (I know it will be covered anyway).

Thanks,

Nitto Made a special Pry bar, to spread the opening.. carefully..

You already read the rotate the bar as it goes thru the stem
to face the inside of the curve thru the narrower part of the front of the stem..?

try reversing the bolt, and tightening it against a coin or flatwasher..

rather than going thru the hole in front.

are you sure that you're not trying to put a 26.0mm bar into a 25.4mm clamp stem?

Put a flathead screwdriver in the clamp gap and twist slowly and carefully to force it open a little more.

Sliding bars into single bolt quill stems is a matter of finesse, rather than force.

take a look at the stem and you'll notice that part of is sculpted away, usually near the bottom or bolt. that provides relief to clear the inside of the curves. It's like the difference between driving a truck around a corner in NYC where everybody parks right to the corner, and other places where they park back from the corners a car length or so.

As you thread the bar rotate the stem to keep the narrow section on the insides of all the curves. Sometimes the end of the quill will touch the bar blocking you, so rotate it back 270 degrees to get the same result.

If the bar has a sleeve extending on either side of the center, you can spread the stem slightly. If one side is threaded, remove the bolt and put in in from the other direction with a penny across the slot, and jack the stem open, but only enough to not scratch the sleeve. If the stem uses a bolt and nut, use a cone wrench to gently flex it open as you slide it up the bar.

Good point ..

OK, thanks, I got it in. Yes, it was the right size, but definitely tighter than others.

There's also the issue of "modern" drop bars having tighter curves than old bars, sometimes to the point of making a new bar incompatible with stems that haven't got removable faceplates.

I'm tired of the long extended procedure for switching stems or handlebars. Next stem I get will have two or four bolts.

Gee, it's not like this is something you should be doing every day anyway. Also you still have to remove the levers to switch no matter what (or switch bars with levers attached, and restring the 4 cables) so the actual difference is a matter of minutes if that.