What size is THIS component?

[Andrew_Culture]

As mentioned in a thread elsewhere I'm starting a new cycling brand selling Titanium bicycle parts. As a part of the launch (and before I spend a small fortune on machining) I starting running a survey to ask what parts people want. I'm flippin' glad I did because it turns out people don't want the bits I thought they did! So this leaves me with a challenge - I need to get correct sizes for the parts people have requested so I can get them manufactured. The problem is that I only have a few bikes (not enough, of course) so there are some bits I can't draw up a specification for.

So rather than clog up the whole 'components' part of the forum I thought I'd keep my requests for help to this thread.

If you would like to fill in the (very short) survey, and get a discount code for when the shop opens, please visit www.ticat.shop

 

[further]

Done

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I have had a lot of requests for Titanium headset / stem spacers.

Are most stem spacers the same diameter? From what I gather they are not, with most stems being either 1”,1 1/8” or 1.5”. I have to list / get things machined in metric so that's 25.4mm, 28.57mm and 38.1mm

I can't get loads of different heights (widths) made because this is a brand new brand, so I was thinking of getting maybe 5mm spacers made and selling them in multiples. What do you think of that idea?

 

[DCLane]

Done. And 5mm spacers are OK - consider 2mm / 10mm though in smaller batches.

 

[figbat]

Done. And 5mm spacers are OK - consider 2mm / 10mm though in smaller batches.

A 2mm would be useful - obviously you can stack 5mm to get 10mm (or more) but an increment smaller than 5mm would be useful (I recently had to get hold of a 2mm to make a neat stack on one of my bikes). Bigger rings can look neater (although I don't mind a stack of 5mm spacers, so long as any logos are the same and aligned .

 

[ianrauk]

Deffo 5mm spacers

 

[Andrew_Culture]

What diameter spacers would you need?

 

[rogerzilla]

5cm = 50mm. Are you sure?

No point in titanium spacers, though. Aluminium is lighter and has no disadvantages in this application.

 

[ianrauk]

5cm = 50mm. Are you sure?

No point in titanium spacers, though. Aluminium is lighter and has no disadvantages in this application.

Edited

There is a point in Ti spacers. In that, It's Ti

 

[rogerzilla]

Ti is good for replacing steel bolts, but it needs to be 6Al4V (the stronger of the two common Ti alloys) and properly made. Some of these bolts are safety-critical, like stem bolts.

On an older bike with a quill stem, the expander bolt is a bit of a weight hog, for example. Ti is ok for this application. Braver people than I used aluminium expander bolts in the 1980s!

 

[figbat]

What diameter spacers would you need?

I’d have thought the vast majority of steerer tubes will be 1 1/8“, so big enough to slide over that.

 

[fossyant]

Deffo 5cm spacers

FIVE cm - blimey

 

[ianrauk]

FIVE cm - blimey

Too late. You've been TNM'd Fossy

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I need to get an idea of the internal and external diameters, do any of you guys have a handy vernier calliper and some spacers that aren't actually on your bikes at the moment

I need to get some technical drawings made ASAP. I would just buy some standard spacers but I need to get a feel for what the most common diameters are.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Stem bolts are popular. Are all stem bolts the same size?