Following my request for a 22mm quill dia. stem for the Carpenter yesterday Harvey Sachs emailed and asked if I was sure that I was looking for a 22mm and not a 22.2mm.
Well, yes and no! I would have thought 22.2mm was most likely but not so. I have puzzled over this and have measured and remeasured. Unless my calipers are way off (unlikely as these are good quality dial calipers - graduations to 0.02mm - from Lee Valley Tools) 22mm is right and may even be a little tight! The stems I have - Titan and unknown British lugged chrome - are both intended for 22.2mm. I have tried a Pivo stem I had lying around which measures 21.7 and this fits very comfortably into the fork. Now this would make the measurement roughly 7/8" imperial (I must get an imperial set of calipers - Lee Valley does the same ones in imperial - graduated in thousandths).
I don't particularly want to use the Pivo stem as it is not exactly period (and not the most attractive piece) but it would do. However, does anyone have a suitable British stem - preferably chromed in 7/8" quill diameter?
If not here is the question, was 7/8" common in the 40s - early-50s on British framesets and are these available?
I am beginning to find the eccentricities of British bikes and their makers a challenge.
On a related note, I have two locking rings which are virtually identical - one came with the frame and is not in great shape, the other was supplied by Ted Ernst and is lovely NOS - however, there is a difference of a milimetre or less between the stem insertion hole - the latter being slightly smaller (although both fit the steerer and are 31/32" not 1").
Further, the NOS headclip which I picked up from Nick at Lloyds, and is a much finer and better conditioned example than the one which came with the frame, measures 31/32" but does not fit - argghhh!
Any advice would be gratefully received, please.
Paul Williams,
Ottawa, ON, Canada