As I looked on the Vision site they showed only 26.0 clamp areas for their base bar setups…what do you guys do out there with that? Use a shim? Buy a 26.0 stem?
I’m looking at buying a pair and I have a stable of 31.8 stems…don’t want to go buy a 26.0. Shim time?
Ahhhhh shoot!
No one here has any idea if I can make a 26.0 Vision work with a 31.8 clamp size stem?
I’m ‘guessing’ a shim would work, but never having used Vision products I just don’t want to make a costly mistake.
Hey there,
I don’t have a vision base bar but i have a 26.0 diameter Easton Attack Carbon bar and went through a number of 31.8 stems trying to dial in my position this season and never had a problem using a shim. I can’t imagine there would be any “Vision-specific” issues in doing the same thing. Good luck!
I use a shim too- they work fine, a bit fiddly to get set up initiailly, but then just as stable as non-shimmed…
Great thanks guys!
Did you just buy a shim from the LBS?
I remember waaaaaaay back in the day I had to use a shim with my old Profile Air Strykes and it was a disaster. That shows my age a bit…circa '93…man I could never get it snug, but they used some really screwed up stuff to put that system together.
Cool thanks. I just didn’t want to find out there was some unknown snafu using a particular brand. I come from a highly technical medical device sales background so I’m kind of a detail dork about asking rather than ‘guessing’.
Did you get your shim at the LBS? To dig…I guess all shims are the same in quality?
Yes- got the shim at the bike shop. Not sure of the specific name brand but i’m some are better than others (i’m talking finish vs. functionality here). I think “problem solvers” makes shims…probably a good place to start looking.
Why not just get a proper stem for the bar? You should be able to find a ton of 26 stems even on eBay…and alas, I am still not sure what the problem that 26 had that 31 solved…
Cool thanks. I actually used my noggin and dropped a dime on my buddy who is a wrench up north. He has been running this exact setup on his Litespeed Blade for 3 years and he is a mechanic for goodness sakes! Vision bar with a 31.8 Look Ergostem and a shim…never had one issue. Now at least I don’t have to buy yet another stem to add to my 5 sitting in a box!
I use a shim. No problems.
Yea it makes zero sense to buy a 26 when a 2 dollar shim will make my stable of 31.8’s work…thanks.
I was wondering the same thing a couple of months ago when I was looking for a shorter-than-normal stem for my vision set-up. It’s much easier to find a variety of 31.8 stem lengths. I had also thought that if a shim was good enough to clamp on the vision aerobars, why would it be a problem with the stem.
Personally, I can’t see why it would be an issue. However, I went to a couple of shops and they advised against doing so, stating it ‘wasn’t safe’ (…liability?). They definitely said do not throw a 25.4mm stem on a 26mm bar.
In the end, I was able to get the 26mm stem that I needed for $50 (ouch).
Yea my wrench buddy essentially said he wound not send out a customers bike with a shim b/c of one word: attorney. If anything happened even not related to the shim performance it would give an attorney a way to make it an issue just b/c it wasn’t a ‘stock’ bike part. I.E. - flat tire, lose control, crash. “oh, but there was a shim on the bars!!!”.
He has ridden his for 3 years and has no issues doing so. He is a track cyclist primarily, but does TT’s as well. He said he probably wouldn’t use it on his track bike because of all the torque and ripping going on with the handlebars, but for a TT or reg. road riding he would/does use it.