Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Should I or Shouldn't I

I am debating, something, anyone who follows here, will know that I think my bars are too low, and if you don't, I do think my bars are too low. So the question becomes:

For $28 I can buy an extender (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000119&subcategory=60001186&brand=&sku=4264&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20ATB%20Stems), it bolts onto the steerer, then you bolt the bars onto it, adds 5-10cm, looks a little dorky but should be functional. Keeps the existing suspension fork, which seems to be working well enough, can be done by me at home. Disadvantage the existing suspension fork does nothing for the road riding I do, advantage, if I decide I want to do some off road again, a tire swap is all I need.

For $75 replace the fork with a solid one that has a longer steerer, put spacers on the steerer until I decide how long I actually want it, moving the spacers around. For off-road I would need to swap the old fork back....

Oh, decisions, decisions, consider the extender is about all I can afford right now..... Especially considering I need to replace the chain at some point, and the BB is having a conniption (again).

If you were sticking to mainly on-road riding, then I would say slap a rigid fork on there and play around with the spacers. Thats what I did. But since you might do some off-roading...it is kinda of discouraging to know that you have to swap forks, brakes, and re-adjust the handlebars each time you switch.


So my vote is to get the delta extender and see how it goes. And I hope you aren't doing any extreme downhill or other high impact riding where this component might be under so real stress.

I would get the rigid fork. You don't really need suspension off road, just slow down some. If you only ride trails occasionally, I don't think you would be doing any extreme rock gardens or drops. I think you could find a fork cheaper than $75 though. I only paid 35 for a used Surly 1x1 fork awhile back, and I've seen generic ones on ebay for less. They aren't hard to change yourself except for knocking the bearing race off.

its hard to know what to do. just to add a spanner in the works, my handlebars are fairly high at the moment but just to accomodate my belly. i can see me lowering them as time goes on. hopefully;-) obviously you have to live for the day so i'd go with new forks. you can go off road with solid forks no problems. just might be a bit bumpier;) and the difference on the road might be enough to warrant it. You do know you can get forks with lockouts? basically changes them from suspension to solid? might be more money though:(