25.8mm handlebar diameter

[foz]

I've been searching and googling and can't find a definitive answer to the mess of handlebar clamp diameters. Hopefully someone can help me out!

Sheldon states that 25.8mm is an in-between size designed to work with either 25.4 (ISO) or 26.0 (Italian) bar diameters.

But will a 25.8mm stem work with a 26.0mm bar? How easy is it to get this bar/stem combination together without scratching the bar?

Thanks, Andy

 

[hamster]

Yes, it will fit. You can help the bar in by levering the stem open a little wider as you fit it to the bulge or doing the reverse bolt / penny trick. But it fits!

 

[foz]

OK. that's good to know. what's the reverse bolt trick?

Thanks!

 

[hamster]

On some stems you can fit the bar clamp bolt into the back. Then you put a small coin into the clamp slot and wind the bolt in to open the slot a little.
The bars then slide in without those nasty zigzag scratches.