Handlebars

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wooster

Active Member
Does anyone know if it's possible for me to put a different stem or raise the bars in some other way ( other than swivelling them ( backwards and forwards ) with my particular bike? It has these specs but I don't know enough to make anything of them
 
DCBassman

DCBassman

Guru
Location
The lumpy far South West
wooster said:
Does anyone know if it's possible for me to put a different stem or raise the bars in some other way ( other than swivelling them ( backwards and forwards ) with my particular bike? It has these specs but I don't know enough to make anything of them
Click to expand...

Assuming an A-head steerer, then any number of stems available. On my Scott I have an 80mm Zoom stem which is angled up about 35 or 40 degrees, it makes quite a difference. If it's a quill stem, then much easier, as already mentioned, but pretty certain it's A-head.
 
freiston

freiston

Veteran
Location
Coventry
wooster said:
Does anyone know if it's possible for me to put a different stem or raise the bars in some other way ( other than swivelling them ( backwards and forwards ) with my particular bike? It has these specs but I don't know enough to make anything of them
Click to expand...

According to those specs, the headset (FSA TH888/NO.10) is 1.1/8" threadless and the handlebar is a Merida CC - all versions of the Merida CC handlebar on this page have a clamp size of 31.8mm. So to use those handlebars, you would need a 1.1/8" stem with a 31.8mm clamp size. Some "non-standard" style stems could have too deep a section to fit on the amount of steerer you have above the headset - so worth checking if you're considering a stem with an unusually deep "collar" (what's the right word?).

For example, here's what SJS cycles have to offer:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stems-1-18-ahead-oversized/
 
Venod

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
Ergon grips are good but there are cheaper Chinese options with a softer grip, I have used them on a MTB with success, I can also recommend Crane Creek bar ends for an alternative hand position, again cheaper copies are available.
 
OP
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wooster

Active Member
Thank you folks. I'm not planning on doing anything just yet but good to know I have the option. The guy at the shop told me I couldn't raise the bar and I assumed he meant at all but maybe he meant without adding another stem. Is the 1 1/8 and 31.5 pretty standard then?
 
freiston

freiston

Veteran
Location
Coventry
1 1/8" threadless headsets are pretty standard nowadays but there are some 1" ones too. Handlebar clamp sizes are a bit more varied. I would say that 31.8mm (not 31.5mm) is on its way to becoming the prevalent size but there's plenty of 25.4mm and 26mm around - iirc, mine are 26mm.

There's a lot of information on Sheldon Brown with some tables of different sizes etc..

The Sheldon Brown website is a wonderful resource and many people's first port of call in researching sizing and compatibility of components and other technical issues.
 
Reynard

Reynard

Guru
Location
Cambridgeshire, UK
DCBassman said:
I know, it's just...I do need to lose a lot, and 54 puts a certain perspective on it...
Click to expand...

*HUGS*

Although at my height, 54 means I'm not a skinny minny either... :blush:
 
OP
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wooster

Active Member
Thank you. This is good info. I was under the impression that I was stuck with the height I had. Good to know I have options if needed in the future.

Oh and for the record, I need to lose about 4 stones + as well
:smile:
 
OP
OP
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wooster

Active Member
Doh! Listen I'm very sorry but I'm confusing my terms here. I don't mean a stem to change reach I was actually meaning the tube that it attaches to affect height. Is this part of the fork and would I need to change the fork to make an actual height adjustment? I seem to recollect as a kid I could adjust the handlebar height because there was an inner bit of telescopic tube that slid out.

Please excuse my ignorance and sorry for creating a wild goose chase :ohmy:
 
freiston

freiston

Veteran
Location
Coventry
wooster said:
I seem to recollect as a kid I could adjust the handlebar height because there was an inner bit of telescopic tube that slid out.
Click to expand...
That's what's known as a quill stem, which are used with threaded headsets - the stem extended down into the short steerer tube and clamped from the inside using an expander nut/bolt (as opposed to a quill-less stem clamping around the outside of an extended steerer tube, as with a threadless headset).

Basically, with a threaded headset, the forks are held in the frame (and the bearing assemblies held together) by a nut screwing down onto a threaded fork steerer tube, with no steerer protruding above the lock nut. With a threadless headset, the non-threaded steerer protrudes far above the headset and the stem, clamped onto the steerer, keeps the bearing assemblies together (at the right preload) and stops the forks from falling out. Typically, spacers are used below and sometimes above the stem. The top of the spacer/stem stack is just a bit higher than the steerer tube inside them. The steerer tube has a "star-fangled nut" in it (a nut with flanges that grips the inside surface of the steerer tube) and a stem cap is screwed down with a bolt into the star-fangled nut (without the stem being tightened up). This presses the stem cap down onto the stem/spacer stack,gripping the inside of the steerer tube and holding everything together, until the desired bearing preload is attained - then the stem is tightened up to hold everything together for when the bike is in use (the star-fangled nut is pretty much just an aid to holding everything together at the right force until the stem is tightened up to provide a strong and reliable assembly).
 
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