What's the best way of raising your handlebars?

[outlash]

I'm currently in the throes of making my bike fit better and I'm currently getting pain in my neck and hands which would suggest raising the handlebar height, which would be the best way of doing this?

An adjustable stem such as this one? : http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-adjustable-stem-318mm-bars/

Or a riser stem? : http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bbb-bhs-25-highrise-oversize-stem/

maybe a stem extension tube? : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBB-Tube-...cycling_bikeparts_SR&var=&hash=item5d30baf7af

Has anyone had experience of any or all three of these methods or is there a better way? I assume that using an adjustable stem is probably better than the riser stem because it's erm, adjustable but it's heavier or is the extenstion tube a stronger (ie: safer) method?


TIA

Tony.

 

[black'n'yellow]

I think you could be wrong to assume that raising the bars will cure your problems. It might, it might not. How long have you been riding? Can you post a side-on pic of you on the bike - that would help.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Have you tried flipping your stem though 180 degrees? That will often give a riser effect.

Alternately is your stem at the top of the steerer, or do you have any spacers above it like the first picture HERE

If you do have spacers above you can remove the spacers and stem, replace the spacers first then re-fit the stem on top of the spacers and hey presto it will be higher.

You could also try just rotating your bars upwards a little. This will raise your shifters and give a more upright position when riding on the hoods.

 

[Pale Rider]

I recently fitted an adjustable stem to a hybrid and it works well for me.

Size matters, once you have your chosen length, you need to make sure the stem will bolt onto the bike.

The steerer is a standard size - unless the bike is ancient - but the bars will likely be either 25.4mm in diameter or 31.8mm.

In my case, the depth of the steerer end of the new bracket was smaller, so I needed a spacer on the stem to make it all fit properly.

 

[outlash]

I think you could be wrong to assume that raising the bars will cure your problems. It might, it might not. How long have you been riding? Can you post a side-on pic of you on the bike - that would help.

I can't do a side-on pic atm as the bike is in the shed, tomorrow perhaps. I've been riding a for few months now and while the usual 'stand on tiptoes and adjust the seat height' worked for a while but as I hit the 20 mile mark on rides my knees were giving me pain so I did a bit of reading on proper bike fit and I raised the seat by about 3 inches. That cured the knee pain but I now have the pain in my hands and neck hence raising the handlebars.

Have you tried flipping your stem though 180 degrees? That will often give a riser effect.

Alternately is your stem at the top of the steerer, or do you have any spacers above it like the first picture HERE

If you do have spacers above you can remove the spacers and stem, replace the spacers first then re-fit the stem on top of the spacers and hey presto it will be higher.

You could also try just rotating your bars upwards a little. This will raise your shifters and give a more upright position when riding on the hoods

I have flipped the stem but it hasn't made any real difference. The spacers are all underneath the stem so that's a non-starter, I have rotated the bars up a touch and while is raises the the shifters, grabbing them while in the drops is a bit tricker so I'm thinking that a temorary thing.

I should mention that I'm changing the stem anyway as I'm eyeballing the front hub while riding and it's half-behind the bars so I'll need a shorter stem anyway.


Tony.

 

[lulubel]

I should mention that I'm changing the stem anyway as I'm eyeballing the front hub while riding and it's half-behind the bars so I'll need a shorter stem anyway.

The pain in your hands and neck could well be caused by being too stretched rather than too low, and if that's the case, a shorter stem will resolve it.

 

[MattHB]

B'n'Y has a point here. I know when I went to a drop barred bike it took a good 1500 miles for my body to get used to it. My neck and shoulder issues were caused by a particularly week core. And as Lulubel says, if you have to stretch that will accentuate the issue of week core.

Do you find you are putting a lot of pressure on your hands and wrists? If so then core work will help a lot.

 

[Cycleops]

Regarding stem/saddle they should be at about the same height, if the bike is the corect size for you. Lulubel may well be right about a shorter stem, this would be the case if the frame is a bit too large for you.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Regarding stem/saddle they should be at about the same height, if the bike is the corect size for you.

No. There is no 'rule' governing saddle & bar/stem height. It might apply in your case, but that doesn't make it right for everyone.

 

[Rob3rt]

Regarding stem/saddle they should be at about the same height, if the bike is the corect size for you. Lulubel may well be right about a shorter stem, this would be the case if the frame is a bit too large for you.

Damn, my bike has been the wrong size all along! That must be why I am not as fast as I wish I was

 

[outlash]

B'n'Y has a point here. I know when I went to a drop barred bike it took a good 1500 miles for my body to get used to it. My neck and shoulder issues were caused by a particularly week core. And as Lulubel says, if you have to stretch that will accentuate the issue of week core.

Do you find you are putting a lot of pressure on your hands and wrists? If so then core work will help a lot.

Probably, but I never had hand/wrist and neck pain until I raised the seat so I figure I'm putting too much weight towards the front in combination with stretching because the stem is too long.

Lulubel may well be right about a shorter stem, this would be the case if the frame is a bit too large for you

If anything, I think the bike is probably a little too small for me. It's a 60cm frame and I'm 6'3" with an inside leg of about 34". The seat is now pretty high so the height difference between the seat and bars is much more than when I first had it.


Tony.

 

[adamhearn]

so I did a bit of reading on proper bike fit and I raised the seat by about 3 inches. That cured the knee pain but I now have the pain in my hands and neck hence raising the handlebars.

I hope you adjusted in small steps to get to the eventual position. 3 inches sounds like a huge amount to raise a seat if you were on tip toes previously. You may find that it's too now high but your hips aren't giving you the appropriate signals just yet...

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

I'm currently in the throes of making my bike fit better and I'm currently getting pain in my neck and hands which would suggest raising the handlebar height, which would be the best way of doing this?

.

Bigger wheels?

 

[rualexander]

I had a Ritchey adjustable stem but one of the front clamp bolts stripped the thread on the aluminium stem soon after I got it, while I was tightening it to try and cure a creak, I didn't think I was applying excessive force on the allen key. So, I wouldn't recommend them.

Another option would be to use an aberhallo type stem raiser/adjuster, google aberhallo.