Lowering the bars?

Lagavulin

Newbie question time again.

My current bike came with a mighty stack of spacers under the stem.



The Allez has a high headtube to start with but with a new bike coming (probably an Izoard) I'd like to lower the front end if I can.

Is it as simple as removing a spacer or is there more to it than that?

redddraggon

Remove the spacers from underneath and stack them on top or cut the steerer and dump the spacers you take off.

Lagavulin

Thanks Red.

Bronzie

You can move a spacer from UNDER the stem to ABOVE the stem, but the stack height plus spacers must be the same UNLESS you cut the fork steerer tube down.

Good idea to move the spacers above the stem as a temporary measure to check the new bar height before committing to cutting down the forks.

Cutting the forks can be done by anyone with a sharp hacksaw but you need to cut off square - I use a carpenters square guide when I do mine. Best left to the LBS if you are unsure though as it's an expensive mistake if you cods it up.

PS Measure twice, cut once!

geoff_ss

A good way of ensuring a square cut is to wrap a piece of masking tape round the tube. It'll be immediately obvious if the tape isn't exactly at right angles. If you put the tape on the 'good' side it'll also go some way to protecting it from scratches if your saw slips. I use my bandsaw to trim steerer tubes - it makes for an accurate cut and is easier by far than a hacksaw.

As Bronzie says, it's probably better to move a spacer from underneath to the top before cutting. Then, if you don't like the change, it's easy to revert to the original position. Cutting is non-reversible.

Geoff

Lagavulin

Thanks all. Think I'll just add any I do remove above the stem for now.

hammerite

Sorry a bit of a related thread hijack.

I'm looking at doing so triathlon and maybe the odd TT over the summer.

I was planning on fitting clip on aero bars to my Trek Pilot. I've spoken to a few people about this, one has said that as the Pilot has a relaxed geometry that aero bars wouldn't work well. They said it would only slightly increase my aero-dynamics, but I would lose out on power. They recommended just lowering my stem instead to get me into a lower position if I want the benefit of improved aero-dynamics.

Would this have the desired effect? I was thinking that as well as providing a bit more of an aero-dynamic position aero bars would also help provide a few more positions to move into should I start to get uncomfortable.

John.T

Fit the aero-bars. They do make a difference and should not give any power loss if set up right. As the Pilot has a longer head tube you should consider lowering the stem as well. You should aim to get your back as close to horizontal as possible, As a minimum your chest should be horizontal. Get clip-ons with as much adjustability as you can. The cheap ones are OK but you are stuck with the position they give which may not be comfortable and if you are not comfortable you can not hold the position.

hammerite

thanks John. I'll have a look at the ones in my LBS, they said if I buy them from there they would fit them for me FOC. Shouldn't be a problem on most bikes but as the Pilot has brakes on the handlebar they will have to be removed and the cables re-routed.

John.T

Not sure what you mean by brakes on the handlebar. If you mean second brake levers like cyclo cross riders use then they will need to be moved / removed. If you only have standard STI or Ergo levers then there should be no problem. Most clip-ons fit on the handlebar close to the stem so the most you should have to do is remove some bar tape so the cables will clear.

hammerite

yes, the pilot 1.0 comes with second brake levers as standard, so I need to get these taken off. Rather the LBS do it than me botching it!!

Bronzie

Hammerite - you'll probably want to move the saddle as far forward on it's rails as possible to get your hips further forward, otherwise the angle between your hips and torso will be quite acute which will hinder you "getting the power down".

You can even get bent forward seatpins (Parker International sell them) which you can swap with your normal pin when you clip the aero bars on as a quick way of turning your road steed into a TT machine.

hammerite

Bronzie wrote:

Hammerite - you'll probably want to move the saddle as far forward on it's rails as possible to get your hips further forward, otherwise the angle between your hips and torso will be quite acute which will hinder you "getting the power down".

You can even get bent forward seatpins (Parker International sell them) which you can swap with your normal pin when you clip the aero bars on as a quick way of turning your road steed into a TT machine.

thanks Bronzie. I'd seen your posts on some of the aero bar threads so was considering this anyway. I was paying particular heed to the references avoiding sore tackle!!

sloboy

Just for a checkpoint for the OP - when you swap the spacers about there's a proper sequence of steps to go through to ensure the headset bearings are appropriate pre-loaded (basically it means you don't fully tighten the bolts on the stem until you've used the top cap to get the tension right).

I think there was a guidance viddy on this topic on the front page of the site until recently, so you should be able to take a look at that.