Carbon drop bars on 26.0 vintage quill stem?

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Abl3rider
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:34 am

by Abl3rider

Hey all, my CX rig is a 1995 Mt Goat Route 66 (steel, of course) Campy 8-speed Ergo, triple. The bike was sold as a very high end "hybrid" but my dad converted it to a touring bike with drop bars, etc. I'm the only cross racer out here on Campy, a quill riser stem and a triple, for sure.

I use it for gravel/cross racing and do well on it. It has a custom Ti stem with extra rise which is comfortable especially in the drops where I have better control. At 46 years old the added rise is lower back-friendly, while I can still get aero in the drops.

In a recent Dirt Crit I went down in a chain reaction crash. My old aluminum Modolo drop bar broke. So I'm in the market for a new bar and am considering carbon fiber to save some weight. I'm looking at some NOS bars because I have the 26.0 clamp diameter, and it is a single bolt clamp.

My question is this... can I put a carbon fiber drop bar, such as the Easton EC90 Equipe, with my custom Ti single bolt clamp stem? I have read even of light weight aluminum bars such as the 3T Prima 220 breaking catastrophically, but that carbon tends to break more gradually and reveal damage before a sudden failure.

I've also heard that Easton required a two-bolt stem, but that it was okay to use a four bolt if torqued carefully but no mention anywhere of a single bolt clamp stem! My clamp itself is a bit wider than old road stem clamps because it's a MTB design.

Please and advise, knowledge, experience is welcomed. Thanks
Abe




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GonaSovereign
Posts: 550
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:34 pm
Location: New Zero Kanada 43° 40' 0" N, 79° 25' 0" W

by GonaSovereign

Yes, you can. Just make sure the stem is fully deburred at the clamp (no sharp edges) and check occasionally for notching on the bar at the clamp.

Also, post a pic for your Mtn Goat!

by Weenie


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