Re: [CR] reaming or shimming French forks

(Example: Framebuilders:Mario Confente)

Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:27:38 -0800
From: "Fred Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
To: CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
In-Reply-To: <4990FD6D.2000004@os2.dhs.org>
Subject: Re: [CR] reaming or shimming French forks


> > As to reaming a French steerer to 22.2 ,I thought > > they were the > > same OD ? What is the danger here other than > > incompetence? > > Not *quite* the same OD. A French steer tube has an OD of > 25mm; an > English or Italian steer tube has an OD of 1" or 25.4mm

True, very true. But note that it is relatively common on Swiss frames for the fork to have 25mm x 1mm (i.e. French) threading but to be reamed for a 22.2mm stem. One might say, that in addition to their unusual bottom bracket threading, it's their distinguishing feature.

Actually, you can find French frames that are "secretly" reamed to 22.2mm, even though they come with 22mm French stems. If the stem uses a wedge instead of an expander plug, it seems to work well enough. I've often wondered if this was why French stem manufacturers abandoned the plugs and adopted the wedges.
       Cheers,
       Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)