Recreational & Family - Handlebar help

I'm an old "new" rider (starting up again after MANY years off the *&^%$ thing). I have an old Schwinn Caliente 12 speed that I've had since college (have my eyes on a new Raleigh at my bike shop, but not in the budget right now). It's got the...see, here's how "new" I am, the loopy handlebars, not the spread out ones. Whatever they're called.

It's got brake levers that when I have them in the "normal" position (loops down) I've got a lever across the horizontal part of the handlebar, and a lever along the "loop" on each side of the handlebars.

My dh and I have decided we WILL ride several times a week. I had a new seat put on mine, as well as a tune up, because while I used to use it in college to ride to classes instead of moving my truck and parking multiple times, that was 15 years and 30+ pounds ago. So the seat is good now. We went riding yesterday and today and my wrists are KILLING me. More accurately, the heels of my hands from my weight distribution. Other than that, I LOVE riding, forgot how much fun it was (and kicking myself in my far too ample butt that we didn't start doing it years ago). I don't remember having this much trouble that many years ago, but then again, I was doing a lot of short distance riding. Now my riding will be 10 - 15 mile runs around our neighborhood (we've got a really nice paved trail the county built).

I thought hey, I'll flip the handlebars over. Okay, great, did that, tried it, that's a LOT better. However, now the brake levers are positioned totally wrong. I only tried it for a minute or two, after we got back from our ride today, but it feels totally wrong. However, _I_ feel more stable on the bike and my posture is definitely better. Except for the brake levers, it's perfect with the handlebars flipped upside down. (Is that even "approved" technique?)

Is it possible I can flip the brake levers over? It looks like if I try that (I'd have to totally unwrap the handlebars) it still might not work right because of how the levers are positioned. I do NOT want to put hundreds into this bike getting new levers or retrofitting the brakes. I probably put too much into it to get it back on the road, but the bike I want isn't in the budget right now, so I'll be getting it in a few months. And our local bike shop is really great, I've used them a lot to do tires for my son's wheelchair, so I just had them go ahead and do the work because it'd been years since I put any money into my bike and I really don't want to get rid of it because of sentimental reasons. And I am not going to be running any races or cross-country trips, strictly recreational.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Lesli in SWFL
www.madmumbler.com

Your bike most likely has a threaded headset and fork with a quill stem. This is pretty good news because you can simply undo the bolt on the stem and pull it up to raise the handlebar position. You may wish to consult Sheldon Brown's webpage on stems (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/handsup.html) for more information. Actually the rest of his website is extremely helpful... especially for beginners.

If you find that you don't have enough stem to get the height you need, you can get a cheap high-rise quill stem from Nashbar for around $10 (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=6700&srccode=1067).

I personally do not recommend flipping the handlebars up. For one thing, it's going to be hard to get to the brakes as you've figured out and people will snicker at you (if you care about that sort of thing) with your handlebars in the "ghetto" position. :) See this recent thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=99832) for further explanation.

Well, looks don't really matter, considering we live in a community with a large retired population who think black socks with sandals and ugly plaid shorts are high fashion. *LOL* But I am uncomfortable with the brake levers in the position they are. So if I can raise the handlebars enough to help, I'm willing to try that.

I did look at the page you sent me, and I'm a little confused. On my Schwinn, there's a bolt head on the top, but there's a huge nut surrounding the neck of that assembly where it disappears into the frame. Do I loosen the bolt head on the top and just pull up? Or do I need to loosen that large nut?

I really appreciate your help (and not laughing at me. *LOL*).

Thanks!
Lesli in SWFL
www.madmumbler.com

Don't loosen the big nut on the headset (the one surrounding the neck). That will cause your fork to fall out. You want to loosen the bolt head on top. Now the only problem you may find is that it might be a little stiff or rusted. Hopefully it's just the wedge or expander that stuck and not a fully corroded stem. You can try using some penetrating oil to free it up if that's happening. Just squirt some down the bolt and around the stem so that it trickles into the steerer tube. You can also loosen up the bolt to the point that it's slightly wiggling and then give it a few taps with a hammer. Hopefully that will break it free from the insides of the steerer. Once the expander or wdge is free. Gently twist the stem from side to side to see if it's loose. Don't apply too much force. If it's really stuck, you may need to wait a little bit for the penetrating oil to work its magic. Also, you can probably try dripping in the oil from underneath too as some steerers go all the way through the fork crown and are simply a hollow tube. Worse comes to worse, you will need to remove the stem by destructive methods and you'll have to get a new stem. Good luck.

Don't loosen the big nut on the headset (the one surrounding the neck). That will cause your fork to fall out.

I'll try your suggestions and see what happens. I flipped the handlebars back down, only instead of putting them in their original position, I rolled them a little further so the ends were towards me a little, and that actually seemed to help some. But I'd love to see if I can raise the stem.

Thanks!
Lesli.