Hi guys,
So I am on the hunt for a new stem for the cross check. My current one is a tad long at 120mm. I think I need one about 100mm. My lower back (Sacro Illiac Joint area) has been a bit sore lately and the extra stretch doesn’t seem to make it feel good.
I have been looking online (the usual suspects) and see lots of the correct length and steerer tube size(1 1/8 inch) but none that have this and the 26mm bar size. I have read online that people pack out the difference with stuff. Would you guys do this? what is the biggest difference in size you can safely pack?
I have the Hospital Foam green one and reckon it has to be black.
You can either get a shim or replace the bar as well. I dont like shims in that area but thats just me as they work perfectly. I replaced stem AND bar at my cross check. Didnt like the stock bar anyway. I do have the original stem that came with it which is a 100mm one with 26mm bars! And I’be happy selling it to you for close to nothing. Where do you life? If in Sydney I swap for a 6 pack of a decent Pale Ale, otherwise $20 plus postage and I get the Pale Ale myself.
Hi marc, that sounds like a pretty easy solution. Pm me postage cost and bank deets and I will tfr some cash.
yes ,get the spacers is the good idea, it can improve the stem.
I’m assuming you found most stems for 31.8mm bars. You can’t (or shouldn’t) shim from 26mm to 31.8mm - 5.8mm difference! Surely a high risk of slippage. Usual shim job is if you have a 26 stem and a 25.4 bar - 0.6mm is doable, but obviously that doesn’t help you when you’ve got 26 bars.
There are loads of stems around at 26.0 bar clamp. Search “stem 26 100” in ebay and you’ll find them. Example:
PRO LT Cyclocross Road Mountain Bike 6 Degree Reversible Stem 26 31 8mm Clamp | eBay
You can buy proper 26.0->31.8 shims.
I’ve been using them trouble-free on a couple of bikes for years.