I'm building up a project bike with NOS 7402 Dura-Ace and was hoping to use a pair of 26.0 Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars, but it seems the mounting bracket on the back of the shifter is too small to fit on the 26.0 bars.

Anyone know if Shimano makes replacement brackets in a larger size (this one is marked 23.8-24.2)? If all else fails, I think I can bend the bracket enough to get it on the bars, but was hoping there might be other options.

Has anyone else had this problem?

--Nevermind, nothing a rubber mallet couldn't fix!!

I'm building up a project bike with NOS 7402 Dura-Ace and was hoping to use a pair of 26.0 Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars, but it seems the mounting bracket on the back of the shifter is too small to fit on the 26.0 bars.

Anyone know if Shimano makes replacement brackets in a larger size (this one is marked 23.8-24.2)? If all else fails, I think I can bend the bracket enough to get it on the bars, but was hoping there might be other options.

I think there might be some confusion here about handlebar diameters. Handlebars typically have two different diameters - a larger diameter at the center of sleeve or bulge where it is clamped by the stem, and a smaller diameter in the grip area (where the levers mount). Cinelli has used several central clamp diameters, including 26.0mm, 26.4mm and 31.8mm. However, the grip diameter has always been the same - 23.8mm. Your Shimano levers should mount just fine on your handlebars. Are you sure you have loosened the lever clamp bolt all the way?

More information on handlebar diameters can be found here (http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-handlebars.html).

The clamp diameter is 26.4 while the actual bar size is 26.0

I actually removed the clamp from the back of the shifter but it was still about 1.5mm too small (I didn't want to cram it onto the bars and scratch the bars too badly), so I just whacked the top of the bracket with a rubber mallet a couple of times and that reshaped the bracket just enough to slide it on to the bars.

Thanks for the assistance though,

KM

The clamp diameter is 26.4 while the actual bar size is 26.0

That can't be right - you'd better go back and re-measure. If the actual bar was 26.0mm, you would never be able to get thread the bends through the clamp of a non-open face stem.

As I stated before, the standard diameter of the grip portion of a Cinelli bar is 23.8mm.

oops.....

My mistake.....yep, 23.8 bars (as you stated) and a 26.0 clamp.....just found the measuring tape. Still seems bizarre that bracket/clamp would be smaller than the bars, even when taken all the way off.