Would putting drop bars on my vintage mountain bike be worth doing? The stem quill is of a smaller diameter than a normal one, as is the handlebar clamp size on the current stem.

Unfortunately I can't afford a decent winter specific road bike, and I have studded 26" snow tires, so I am planning on using this bike through the winter. The handlebars just really, really bother me and I want to change them to anything else, but more than anything I'd love to use the set of touring bars I have sitting around.

Any suggestions on a stem that will make this possible?

Pic of the monstrosity

Most older MTB bars/stems are 25.4mm clamp so if your touring bars are older Japanese ones they just might fit. Give it a go, you'll probably need to raise that stem though to make the drops comfortable.

The normal sized bars don't fit in the stem, I've tried

Looks like a perfect application for a Nitto Dirt Drop stem. Measure your road bike from center of saddle to center of handlebar and try to get a stem that will mimic this distance accordingly. Try to keep the top of the bars level with the saddle.

https://www.rivbike.com/products/show...irtdrop/16-100

Digital calipers to find out what sizes you are working with, then get a shim (winter bike right?)

https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...ebar+Shim.aspx

If you have bars you like, the cheapest and easiest option may be to find a stem that fits your bars and budget. Since the bars are too big for that stem, they're likely 26.0mm (road bike "normal") so you can use a road bike stem in either 26.0mm or 31.8mm (modern oversized) with a shim.

The local bike co-op could have something on the cheap cheap for the 26.0mm option.

The stem is about 20.7mm and the bars are about 22.3mm

Probably depends alot on the bar/stem combo. I just put drops on my old Trek. The Sakae randonneur bars I had wouldn't work because the bend at the drop was too tight. But the Belleri bars on there now worked ok.

The stem you have on your POS mountain bike has a double clamp for a straight mountain bar. It only works with handlebars that do not have a bulged center section, and will only clamp bars that are 22.2mm (aka 7/8") in diameter. I have never seen a drop handlebar that will fit that stem.

The "normal" mountain bike handlebar's clamp area is 25.4mm (aka 1") in diameter. Most road "drop" handlebars are 26.0mm or 26.4mm in diameter. Some older Japanese drop handlebars and most cheaper steel drop bars have a clamp area that is 25.4mm in diameter.

Thanks for the clarification.

mazdaspeed,

you can probably pick up a used 25.4 stem and get those trekking bars Bill mentioned above. you won't even have to disconnect any cables either. just slide them off and back onto the new bars.