So, I've got this strange anonymous frame that I bought for my lovely wife (black, French BB, English steerer, no decals save for a simple "Dura Ace" sticker on the seat tube where the Reynolds/Columbus decal should be). I am determined to get her back on a bike, even if I have to shame her with a "labor of love" bike built from the ground up.

Anyway, I figured a "city" bike would be the best option. Despite iab's best efforts, I never plunked down the money for a high-priced old Bianchi Sport from Italy, however, I am quite taken with the look of manubrio condorino.



They are pretty hard to find in the US, and fairly expensive to ship from Italy. Because of the sharp bend, the stem is incorporated into the bar itself. Soma Fab makes (or made?) a "Condorina" bar which has that classic shape, but no stem:



(Apologies for that image size. Why can't BBcode IMG tags take size attributes???)

I'm not sure what they were thinking. Oh, right, all stems today have open face plates. Right... That pretty much turns a silk purse into a sow's ear as far as I'm concerned. There are no classically styled quill stems with open face plates. The Nitto UI-2 stem comes closest, but it's pretty ugly as well, with its TIG welding puddles and sharp bend at the back. Besides, I have a suspicion it's angled smaller, for Keirin use. Might explain why it's only available from Japan.

This is where my confusion comes in. I know nothing about threadless stems. It seems I would need some sort of threadless adapter and a (very) short threadless stem, but everything seems to be made for modern large diameter bars. Does anyone make a short, silver, diminutive (sort of slender) threadless stem that accepts a bar with a one-inch center section?

Maybe I will just bite the bullet and buy a true condorino bar from eBay Italia. Are their integrated stem diameters suitable for insertion/clamping into a classic British/Italian steerer tube?

Thx...

If going the threadless adapter route, would something like this, or this work?

"Are their integrated stem diameters suitable for insertion/clamping into a classic British/Italian steerer tube?"

Can't say for all of them, Skip. But this one, which came on my Frejus, fit the steerer, and Record headset, just fine.

Thanks. That Thompson looks a bit more svelte than typical. It is black though, and more importantly, only handles 31.8mm centers. Looking at the Thompson site, it seems they don't make any stems for 25.4mm centers. The Ritchey is about the right color, and takes 25.4mm centers. However, it's only 1-1/8" steerer. Looking at Ritchey's website, it doesn't appear they make any stems for 1" steerer tubes.

Thanks. That is good to know. In addition to the shipping costs from Italy, returns are pretty impractical should the stem not fit.

Ah right, I was looking on Ebay and saw some silver stems that fit 1" steerer and 25.4mm bars, but they're from Taiwan...so I didn't mention them haha. That said, there are 1" to 1 1/8" adapters.

I like the Soma Condorina, but I wish it was aluminum and not steel.

You can shim a stem to fit smaller bars. I did this for a while and it is a minor complication but it works fine.

Also, check Velo-Orange for their silver stems. They have Nitto Technomic quill stems with reach as short as 60mm and threadless stems beginning at 80mm. The Technomic is a long quill but you can cut it if you need to shorten it. None of these are vintage italian stems but your bike won't care.

a not the same coolness but sort of similar bar that would work (it worked with a pantographed torpado stem any way) is the velo orange postino

VO Postino Handlebar

I have a modolo 1" quill stem that dates from early 90s that used a hinged bar clamp to allow for easy bar mounting. It is not completely removable faceplate design like the more modern & common 2-bolt faceplate but looks like it uses a couple of links from a bike chain to form a hinge at the front and then also uses a standard single recessed clamp bolt. If you can find one, it would look more suitable on a vintage bike, direct fit for 26.0mm bars and 1" steer tube without adapters.
Here is an example, looks like they were sold as both TTT and modolo.
3TTT Stem 2002 Titanized "Hinged Clamp" 125mm NIB NOS | eBay

For a very short extension quill stem, search BMX stems. May not be pretty, but they come in a variety of sizes....22.2mm, .883", mount 7/8" to 25.4mm bars.
Steel and aluminum models too.

Oh, and they have a removable clamp.

This might be a good solution for you:Universal Cycles -- Dimension Threadless Stem - Silver.

OK. But what does this have to do with threadless stems being confusing to you?

...or you could follow the approach used to mount twist grip shifters inboard next to the stem on the GMC Denali... i.e., saw the bar in half, put the stem in place, then rejoin the halves, using an internal insert for reinforcement... j/k

Bontrager makes a short stem that will work, and of course, it's black, but that's no biggie. It will shed it's color and polish very well, and it's a 26.0 clamp. Better yet, in the ISO/Trade thread, there is a polished one already, and you just need a shim to make it work. I'd go that route.