Road Cycling - New Roadie needs adjustment guidance

Someone may have a simple answer for me. I noticed that my handlebar wasn't PERFECTLY in the middle. It was towards the left about 1mm more. Of course I had to fix that (even though my LBS told me NOT to touch the bike). He says "when you need something adjust it, bring it to me and I'll do it for you....don't play around with it, it's fitted perfectly for you".

Anyways, to make a long story short....I loosened up the 2 nuts (on the stem/headset???) that held the handlebar in place to move it to the correct position.....when the nuts loosened, the bars dropped down. Now I have no idea how to put the bars back on correctly. Is it supposed to be up high or low? Now I feel, when I'm riding on the hoods, my hands/arms are lower than the way it felt yesterday....but that may just be me! I'm not sure...how do I know if I need to rotate the bars higher? And how high is too high and how low is too low?

Is there an easy answer? Thanks for all your help! and BTW, I'm addicted to the speed!!!!!! WAAAAAAAHOOOOOO!! :D

Short answer?
Keep the flat part of the drops parallel to the ground.

Of course, as with all things roadie, this is open to continuous and heated debate....

Ride your bike.

try looking around for pics of other bikes from the side and see how they are setup. eBay may be a good source for that.

Originally posted by Guillermo
try looking around for pics of other bikes from the side and see how they are setup. eBay may be a good source for that.
Sorry to be disagreeable, but many of the bicycles I see on eBay are improperly set up. Visit a local bike shop or cycling club for more reliable guidance.

The straight bottom portion of your drop bars should slope gently downward to the rear, to permit your wrists to be nearly straight when your hands are in this position.

sorry :( just a thought :crash:

Originally posted by Cadd
........ Of course I had to fix that (even though my LBS told me NOT to touch the bike). He says "when you need something adjust it, bring it to me and I'll do it for you....don't play around with it, it's fitted perfectly for you".

Anyways, to make a long story short....I loosened up the 2 nuts (on the stem/headset???) ........ :D

So hang your head real low and take the bike back to the LBS!

Originally posted by 1oldRoadie
So hang your head real low and take the bike back to the LBS!
I think that's my only choice here. I just don't have time to, they close at 8pm and I don't get home from work until 7.30.

I guess I have to wait until the weekend (where it's like a war zone there.....it's just funny, whenever I go on the weekends, it seems like they're giving away money or something....there's always a crowd of people lined up!

It is very difficult to get help from my LBS staff on weekends also. Try to pick a rainy day - few people go bike shopping when its raining.

That said, I would try to fix the problem without the LBS. I guarantee this will not be the last time you will want to adjust your bike set-up, and its a pain in the ass to run to the LBS every time. My suggestion is to take the allen wrench, go outside with the bike and keep adjusting the handlebar position in little increments up/down until it feels comfortable. I would also recommend getting one of the bike repair manuals (I like the Zinn book) for reference.

I agree with chungachanga, you could tell the difference the first time you changed the position, so try adjusting it until it feels like it did before your first adjusment.