bar/stem questions
 

soooo in my upgrade fever, i think i'd like to try track drops and pick up a new stem, i have my eyes on that black threaded stem on nashbar http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

i think i'd go with the nitto b 125s, since the drop seems shallower, is this good for commuting and such? also, i'm not sure which width to go with, i'm relatively small, but 36cm seems TOO narrow.

secondly! if i go with the nittos, i'll need to shim it to fit that stem, should i spring for the $10 nitto steel shims? i dont really trust the aluminum can idea

thirdly!! i'll probably get champ grips, but should i want to slap some ourys or anything near the stem, how hard are grips to get off?

I use the b125's and find them a bit more practical than the 123s. 36 is pretty narrow, 38 is a good size. I'm pretty skinny myself and I deffinately wouldn't want to go narrower than what I have now.

second: no idea, never used

3rd: oury's arent too hard, champs can be a *****. I ended up just cutting off a pair.

The B125s are about as comfy as track drops are going to get on the street - the drops are a little more usable than the B123s, atleast for me. Bar width is a fairly personal choice, but the rule of thumb is generally to measure from the bony part of one shoulder to the other and use that as a starting point. I have 38cm B125s (currently sitting in a corner gathering dust) and I find them to be on the narrow side of comfy - I'm around 5'9"/5'10"-ish with fairly narrow shoulders. I would think you'd have to be a really tiny person for 36cm bars to be comfortable, but then again [165] uses them and I think he's a fairly burly specimen.

Don't doubt the power of the soda can shim. It works fine and costs significantly less than the nitto one. There are plenty of 25.4mm clamp diameter quill stems floating around eBay though. I bought a pair of nice SR/Sakae ones NIB for about $10ea. Not black, but nice forged stems nonetheless.

Kierin grips are not easy to get off. It involves a lot of cursing and a wooden spoon. I would say that you're better off putting the ourys on first - you can always just cut them off if you decide that you don't want them.

m.

okay so if i had a black frame, with a red frame pad, red straps (probably gonna order those silva laminated straps on ebay, sucks @ $40 after shipping though), with a black stem, red oury grips, and black champ grips...would i rule the hardest? or just look mallgoth

If you have to ask...

re:shim

either use the beercan approach or buy a stem off ebay for like $15 including shipping. $10 for a shim just ain't worth it.

2mm? 3mm? 4mm? lots of choices!

i have no idea to what you are referring... but for the record my b123 36cms are not working for me (long rides are giving me chest pain) so i'm in the process of ordering parts to replace (i'm switching to 019s or 021) and just ordered a new stem though i must say *thread jack starts here* it really pisses me off when sellers have statements like "buyer must pay within 10 days of close of auction" then when you pay the same day the auction closes and you still haven't heard from the guy 6 days later.... i'm gonna give him his ten days but for real...
back to the original topic... do the beer shim till you can get a sweet deal on a stem

i was refering to grip thickness

what do you mean by 019 and 021

018 or 021 are the model numbers of nitto bullhorns. Not sure about 19.

http://businesscycles.com/graphics/nittobull021a.jpg

Those are the 21s. I just got a pair, gonna play with them tonight on the 3rensho I think.

here's a bad angle on the 019s. where in the 21s the sloping part goes straight out to the sides it looks like on the 019s they go out to the side and forward.
http://www.businesscycles.com/graphics/nittobull19.jpg

I just posted about shim issues.
It took too much aluminum to shim it so I used one layer of Cateye bartape. P E R F E C T

FWIW, if you decide to go the Champs route be prepared to pay a whopping $27 or so for a few grams of rubber. They hold tight, but on second though I would have gone with a cheaper grip.

When you put them on your drops lather up the inside of the grip with soap, windex, or something. Water is not enough. I got some nasty calluses that lasted a week after I jammed the first grip on with not-enough-soap.

bensbike on ebay has champ grips for $20

and i've already asked my girlfriend to steal some hairspray from her house for me :)

going to go with the 2mm thick ones, and the shims. i've had far too much bad bike luck to trust cans or tape, if nothing else, then i'm paying for piece of mind

I ride 36's. I love that I can fit between cars w/o worry.

ive never been more frustrated with anything in my life before i encountered champ grips. i fu*king hate those things. putting them on is literally the most arduous process ever. using windex, spit, or water helps a lot but then your grips will be super slippery for awhile, which is so annoying. does anyone have any ideas for liquid that'll stay wet long enough to slip the grips on but will dry up overnight at the longest?

Hairspray.
Rubbing alcohol.

anyone know where I can get 019's or 021's in 38 or 40 cm? also, Im trying to track down a mutant quill stem. Any dealers online?

you can get both in 40 here http://www.thebikebiz.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=121 (see the thread about it somewhere). they had 38s but are now out of stock until mid-may it says. i picked up the 021s in 38 from them and they are great.

well, if the 38s are too big, i'll post a thread here asking if anyone has 36s to trade
i feel like 36s would be...i dont know...2cms less stable? we'll see

+1 rubbing alcohol.

i put on definitely too-small grips on drops with rubbing alcohol and they went on smoothe and dried almost immediately.

when i used windex an another set of grips, it took several days to dry.

You can usually find isopropyl alcohol at automotive stores in pressurized cans with a long, skinny nozzle (like you'd get with a can of WD40). This makes it very easy to apply grips, and slightly easier to take them off as you can work the nozzle under the grips. Definitely worth it if you don't have access to an air compressor.

m.

Champs grips at REload are 16$...

when i used windex to get em on, it worked pretty darned well. Dried seemingly very quickly as i had to reapply during the process...