The bike I should be riding...89 Marin OAP conversion....finished!

[Tootyred]

My brake levers are now done and back together.

They were a cheap ebay find and really abused. But cerakote and a bit of localised filing / polishing has saved the day once again.

Decals i saved by removing them with a heat gun and storing them in a ziploc bag....bit more glue on the back and bobs your aunties brother.

Ready to ride again.

 

[Tootyred]

Well...things are never as simple as you think. Sometimes its the simplest of things that get complicated .

Having got the bars, stem, levers, shifters, grips and ends all out, we realised that the Azonic bars do not have enough grip area. They are of the STI generation, where much less flat is needed.....arse!

Problem is that its not as simple as changing out the bars for another set of risers, as most won't fit though a closed loop quill stem.... We really wanted some nitto bars for this project, either a801 or a802, but neither are now available in the uk. That would answer all problems as they are designed to twist through quill stems and have 50mm of rise and long long control flat areas.

But at the moment, we either we go back to straighter bars with the loooooong quil nitto riser stem...see photo (as the marin ones run out of height way before flat bars), or we try another solution. Im really not sure we are up for that styling anyway.....i know its a practical bike....but...!

One answer would be to use a quill stem converter (22.2 to 25.4) and then add a 35o ahead stem. This would allow us to use any bars we like as the stem would be open face, but it wont solve the issue of limited control area. Even orange supercross have only 7" of flat......

Still going to need some bars with good rise and some good width.....kinda 680 min.

Hummmm.

 

[August Bicycles]

Well...things are never as simple as you think. Sometimes its the simplest of things that get complicated .

Having got the bars, stem, levers, shifters, grips and ends all out, we realised that the Azonic bars do not have enough grip area. They are of the STI generation, where much less flat is needed.....arse!

Problem is that its not as simple as changing out the bars for another set of risers, as most won't fit though a closed loop quill stem.... We really wanted some nitto bars for this project, either a801 or a802, but neither are now available in the uk. That would answer all problems as they are designed to twist through quill stems and have 50mm of rise and long long control flat areas.

But at the moment, we either we go back to straighter bars with the loooooong quil nitto riser stem...see photo (as the marin ones run out of height way before flat bars), or we try another solution. Im really not sure we are up for that styling anyway.....i know its a practical bike....but...!

One answer would be to use a quill stem converter (22.2 to 25.4) and then add a 35o ahead stem. This would allow us to use any bars we like as the stem would be open face, but it wont solve the issue of limited control area. Even orange supercross have only 7" of flat......

Still going to need some bars with good rise and some good width.....kinda 680 min.

Hummmm.

I’ve had this problem in the past. I machined some bar end plugs that were about 35mm long to give a little bit extra grip area. Not had a problem with them in the 2 or more years of daily riding them on our cargo bike.

 

[Tootyred]

Funnily enough, i took to bits an old bike a few years back to find the steel bars had been extended with turned down broom handles! Whittled with a penknife by the look of it....made me laugh as they were 3" long!

 

[August Bicycles]

Haha, nice! I used aluminum that I turned on my lathe, though I guess you have to work with what you've got!

 

[Canuckbiker]

Yes, good idea to extend the bar length, the Controltech Terminator 20mm (per side) extensions may be another option. I recently ordered a set for a cut down bar and was impressed with the low weight and quality, see below link, another option

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255482443549

 

[benjabbi]

I have a stem that might suit, it has a twin bolt face plate, 1" quill, high rise, if you look at the bottom of page 6 of my Bonty Race thread, at the ill fated drop bar conversion, it's pictured there, yours for postage if you think it might be useful.

 

[Tootyred]

Ooooh. Interesting! Whats the reach and length to the limit line on the quill?

Cheers....coz that could be an idea

 

[benjabbi]

I'll dig it out and take some pics with a tape measure, tomorrow afternoon when I get back from work.

 

[Tootyred]

Cheers