HELP!! Handlebars won't fit my gooseneck!

[sandmountainslim]

Picked up a Wald 314 gooseneck to install on my '88 Schwinn Cruiser today and it fit fine BUT the factory handlebars will not fit the gooseneck! the bars are too small in diameter. They appear to be 1/2 pipe from end to end and are a uniform diameter. Are my bars supposed to be larger in the middle where the stem tightens to them? Is the Wald 314 made for an odd sized bar? Please help, any advice appreciated.

 

[old_skool]

It sounds like your Wald stem is sized for 1" center handlebars (instead of 7/8")

You could use an old school BMX stem instead - they are designed for 7/8" handlebars

I think there is an adapter shim for 7/8" bars so a 1" center mount stem can be used with them, too

 

[deorman]

Bars are usually 7/8" either with or without a bump out to 1" in the center, I don't recall ever seeing a Wald stem that wasn't 1".

 

[sandmountainslim]

Bars are usually 7/8" either with or without a bump out to 1" in the center, I don't recall ever seeing a Wald stem that wasn't 1".

Ok, I must have misjudged and the bars are 7/8 all the way without a bump. I guess I need to get a bar with a one inch bump?
What bikes were Wald stems used on?

 

[deorman]

Nearly all older non bmx bikes, and a good deal of anything less than three hundred now use a 1" clamp, should be easy to find. viewforum.php?f=2

 

[deorman]

http://waldsports.com/index.cfm/handlebars.html

 

[sandmountainslim]

I like the Wald Stem so I think tomorrow I will look for bars with a 1 inch bump. Should be easy to find....I hope....if many older bikes had such bars.

 

[mitchelangelo]

They make a handlebar shim that will do the trick too. I have used them and they work well. Check e-bay.

 

[sandmountainslim]

Solved it by buying a new set of handlebars Half Moon style marked "SG".