so I bought this bike off a guy online and long story short the left handlebar snapped right off after the first ride. I'm brand new to road bikes so this made me super sad since I was really excited about how easy it is to go fast on a road bike.
Where can I find the RIGHT replacement part? The bike is a Gardin, I think from the 90s. Should I give it a go at replacing the handlebar myself?
The bike is beautiful and I really want to take good care of it, any help or advice is appreciated, I just want to get this bike in riding condition so I can enjoy it.
by iLikeWeringHighSocks
5 Comments
Sad about the bars. Glad that didn’t end worse for you!
I’d take the bike to your local bike shop or bike co-op and ask if they have anything that would fit. There’s a very good chance they a literal pile of compatible bars in the back that they would sell to you for cheap/free.
That’s just a basic non-oversized bar so will be cheap.
Its fairly easy to do – just remove the old bar – which will take seconds the state it is in, slide the new bar through the stem and put the brake levers on then retape the bars.
The hardest part is probably taping the bars – you’ll need new tape too and there are lots of videos online of how to do it.
The stem has a weird look to it at the interface to the broken bar. Can you post a picture of the stem with the bar removed? It kinda looks like it was hammered ?
Handlebar broke because it’s 40-ish years old with a lot of miles, so metal fatigue eventually got it. For the same reason, you may also want to replace the stem, the part that holds onto the handlebar.
Another commenter said check your local bike co-op cuz they’ve likely got piles of bars and stems to fit, and that’s a good idea. FWIW, bars and stems usually have *date codes* indicating when they were made. Sometimes these are cryptic — but some are easy to puzzle out, like “6 95” (June 1995). If possible, get something relatively new, like made in the 2000s. This will reduce your odds of getting another high-mileage part that could break the same way.
If you change just the bar, the center diameter to match your stem is likely 26.0mm, with a slight chance of 25.4.
If you change both bar and stem, the stem diameter to fit your fork is almost certainly 22.2mm. Beware of _very_ old French 22.0 and old American 21.1mm (.833 inch). Both could seem like they would work with your fork, but neither are a safe and proper fit. Happy hunting.
(BTW, I ride a 40-year-old road bike. Two years ago I switched over to a brand new handlebar and a stem made in the 2010s.)
While you are looking for a new handlebar, look for a new saddle too. The one that you have looks like a hammock.