Bought a NOS stem 12 cm via Dutch auction site Marktplaats. Most of what is written for the handlebars Cinelli Campione del Mondo No. 66, goes for the stem Cinelli 1A as well. This stem was the absolute standard during the 70's and 80's, until the threadless headset systems took over the leading position. The model 1A had a posh brother 1R, the more expensive version with a hidden clamp mechanism. I don't remember if I ever had a 1R, but I can imagine that the clamping of the handlebars was not always very secure, so I left my fingers from it. Later, Cinelli introduced the XA stem with normal bar clamping, but a semi-hidden bolt.
Cinelli 1A was more popular than the 3ttt stem. First, because it was a Cinelli. Second, because the bolt didn't have a hole for an Allen key in front if the stem. The 3ttt stem, same as e.g. SR, always had a bolt with a rusty Allen key hole. That certainly didn't look nice.
Next to the image and real quality thing, there was always something like: use handlebars and stem from the same brand. Clamping dimensions were (and are) not really standardised, even when an expression like "oversized" was not known yet. Asian steering parts used 25.4 mm, Italians either 25.8, 26.0 or 26.4 mm. And even when parts came from the same country, if they were not from the same brand, you could expect serious assembly and disassembly problems. Or difficulties securing the bars or snapping bolts, etc. Nothing uglier than a nice racing bike with big scratches on the bars near the clamp.
So, to Cinelli bars belonged a Cinelli stem, and the same for 3ttt and other brands.
Besides the Cinelli 1A stem, there are also dedicated track / sprinters stems, named 2A and 3A. 1A has an angle of 73°, the 2A has a sharper angle of 65°, 3A even more extreme, 58°. I think the 1a stem with 73° angle will do for me. A stem with 65° pulled out of the steerer tube looks silly, so I'll go for the "road" stem with 73° angle assembled properly for a comfortable riding position.
Besides the new 12 cm. stem, I also have 1 or 2 pieces 14 cm stems, but I guess that that is too long. Besides that, the looks are not very good anymore, because several scratches and other damages. But in case I need the length, I still have the possibility to use one.
Edit 18. June: I had the opportunity to sit on the new frame (assembled temporarily) and I've decided that I will ride it with a 14 cm. stem. That's just the perfect match with the 57 cm. top tube. The 12 cm. stem can be sold again.
Arty not farty
1 day ago