Vintage type handlebars and stem

Hoodoo

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Are there any current handlebars and stems available to mimic the old style (1900-1920ish) handlebars and/or a straight stem (every stem I find is angled forward. I am thinking of reversing the angled stem I have to move the handlebars back about six inches but I would really rather have the stem straight up.
 
Im a kiwi:unsure:cut it and weld it put a sleeve inside where you weld it to make it strong
 
Terminology:
With bicycle stems, the distance that the handlebars are extended from the steering axis is the "reach". So what you want is a "zero-reach stem".

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There is at least one company that makes a zero-reach stem, but it doesn't really look old-fashioned. RANS uses a zero-reach stem on their crank-forward bikes such as the Fusion:
http://www.ransbikes.com/Fusion10.htm
-One of which I own.

I tried to take a photo of my own bike, but my ancient camera only takes half-decent photos in daylight, and it's the middle of the night now. But anyway, I tried:
http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/inanities/recumbent/fusion_stem/rans_stem.html
Also, my bike is about three years old now so the current ones are not identical to mine, but they are functionally the same.

The handlebar is a 7/8" diameter [road bike] handlebars, but I believe there's a shim around it (so the stem should be able to take 1" [MTB] handlebars).
The stem is about 6.5" high overall, with the lower tube being about 5.5" tall. I think that it would be possible to cut it shorter, as the bottom-clamp is not fixed to the stem.

The bottom part of the stem fits around a 1-1/8" diameter tube, so you would need to have a threadless headset that diameter, or use a 1-1/8" threadless adapter in a quill stem. The current stems are forged from one piece, rather than welded together from two pieces (a couple of the earlier examples cracked from hard use, so they went to the one-piece forged stems).

RANS normally sells through dealers only but if you only want the stem, you might email them and ask if you do that through the mail (if there's no dealers nearby, which there probably won't be. There ain't a lot of them).

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A while back on one of the bicycling newsgroups, someone asked about zero-reach stems and I was the only one to respond (mentioning the above RANS stems). I've never seen any others except on antique/vintage bikes.

It is possible to buy stems in different angles and reaches, but all the other ones seem to have at least some reach, typically 75mm or so. BMX stems can be had shorter (50mm) but bring along other issues: steerer tube and handlebar size issues, and that they tend to look rather blocky.
~
 
Thank you for the continued primer on terminology. It helps tremendously.
I agree the RANS stem is not what I am looking for.
Maybe I should cut and weld the one I have...not going to have hard use. Reversing the stem does however, simulate the longer handelbars, so the driver can sit fully upright. Might be a good compromise.
 
An Old School BMX Quill type stem might be closer to what you are looking for and be a simple remove and replace solution. As for handlebars your best bet is probably going to be to bend a modern set of cruiser bars to narrow down the overall width at the ends or keep your eyes open on ebay for a set of 7/8 in. motorcycle bars that might meet your needs.

ocscully
 

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