Old bike problems...

Today's 'scratching the head' job was an old 5 speed ladies bike wanting a twist grip shifter fitting instead of the current stem lever as was par for the course in those days. Noticed that the bar grips were not fully on the handlebars when it came in - reason why? These old bars are a good millimeter wider than the standard 22.2mm bar and it makes all the difference. Try as you might you cannot get a twist grip shifter onto the bar - and the reason why the grips didn't fit right. The only option is likely an older style thumb shifter as these have a soft clamp that will probably expand enough to get it on - but the owner doesn't want a thumb shifter! One of the joys of trying to 'upgrade' an old type of bike. Watch this space...