bornhere

This bike has the fork with the "c" shaped safety drop outs.
I had a little trouble rounding up a headset because the crown race diameter. That should have been a clue.
Installed the headset today and went to put the bars and stem in. I have a set of Salsa Moto-Ace ergos that I was going to use. Purchased a new Nitto Technomic stem because the bars are 26.0. The old stem was a Technomic also, but in 25.4 bar size.
The new stem would not fit in the steerer. It is too big. Looking at the old one, the owner of the lbs and I could only guess that it had been shaved, not even visible to the eye, or could not feel the change in diameter. The wedge nut had been swapped for a much smaller one than was on my new stem.
My question is, does anyone know the size of stem I should need, and where can I get one?
Right now my options look like:
A) use a 25.4 bar with the old stem and some polishing
2) find a smaller quill diameter stem with a 26.0 clamp if possible at all.

This bike is a light brown color, Ishiwata tubed, with 600 Arabesque. I love the patina, and had a few black components planned for it because it looks sweet with the brown. I was getting stoked for the black bars, and even considered building a wheelset with black CR- 18's if they make them. I like a wide bar too, so the only option I can see right in front of me is Nitto Noodles if I have to go with a 25.4 bar.

unworthy1

Many Ross of that vintage used the .833" quill that Schwinn and some other Japanese bikes used for a while, too. They are not so easy to find, and usually not a lot of length variety, either. Try eBay, try here in the ISO sub-forum, try another LBS with a box of old stems in the back. I built up one of those bikes for a co-worker: a decent ride and fairly well made, despite the weirdo fork ends...another option is a replacement (standard dimensions) fork, just sayin'

bornhere

I did a search on quill stem diameter and saw the .883 mentioned , but not for a Ross. Thanks. It looks like the stem I have is a good idea and fairly well done, so it may just stay. I was just not looking forward to dropping more dough on Noodles. A different fork crossed my mind too, but its my size, so I would likely be looking at a new fork to get a long enough steerer. The patina thing goes with me wanting to keep this fork too.

TL179

I had a ross pro, stripped it for its arabesque group. It had the odd sized fork/headset. Take some rough sandpaper and RUB! eventually it'll be the right size

unworthy1

Yeah, you can do that but it's a LOT of rubbing: the diff between a standard (22.2MM) and a French (22.0mm) is a mere .2mm, and that takes some time and rubbing to reduce...tho a lot of us have BTDT. The diff between a standard and a .833" (21.1mm) is 1.1mm, that's going to take a lot of sandpaper before you get there, and harder to keep it truly round, too. This is one case where at least roughing it down to approx. size on a lathe would be worth it. BTW, this is a size that a lot of early BMX bikes also used, if you can stomach a BMX stem your choices expand.

bornhere

The Technomic that came on it was already shaved by someone, I took the sandpaper to it and got some more adjust ability out of it. Also sanded the inside of the steerer a little just to smooth things out. Now i just need to re-polish it and get some different bars.

Note to self, get lathe, shave stems, sell on ebay to Schwinn crowd.... be rich.

velo-orange

it's actually .833". NOT .0833.

Thats the same size as 21.1mm dia. It takes some effort to sand down a mm off a stem.

unworthy1

duly noted
it took me years just to get the numbers 833 and the decimal point right.

Al Criner

Nitto Noodles are 26mm, not 25.4 but Nitto does make 25.4 bars.

I have an 80mm SR stem, .833", off an old Ross Gran Tour if you are interested. The handlebars I hare are steel and narrow across the top so you would not want it but the stem is in decent condition. It is a standard stem though, not like a Technomic.

big_heineken

I sanded a 22.2mm stem down to 21.1mm a few weeks ago. I used my drill as a make-shift lathe and some rough emery cloth. It only took about 30-45 min and 2 drill batteries. My hands were completely black, but it worked and didn't take that long. I'd do it again, if I needed to.

unworthy1

I'm sending all my sanding work to you! you work for beer, right?

bornhere

I guess I thought the noodles were 25.4 for some reason. I was looking in a catalog at the lbs and the numbers just started to all run together after seeing so many that would not fit, or did not have the bends or material I was looking for.

Maybe it would be cheaper and easier to cut down the new stem I have. I could probably sell the old one after I polish it up. Then I could use the bars I already have.

Thanks guys

RobE30

Talk to a local machine shop. Look in the yellow pages and see what you come up with. I have a similar Ross w/ the 600 group. I'll talk to the guy that I got the bike from, he has lots and lots of parts. Glad to see another Ross rider on here!

big_heineken

Sure, I'll work for beer, or spare parts