Hybrid Bicycles - How do I get my bars up A LOT?

I ride a Gary Fisher Mendota. 22.5" frame and I'm 6'2", so it should be the right size for me. I have adjusted the seat height using the 'leg is straight with heel on the pedal' method and my seat height feels good. My problem is that the handlebars are now a good inch to inch and a half lower than the seat and I want to get them up to at least seat level. I have already gone from the stock 7 deg stem to a 25 deg stem. I bought a 40 deg stem (all Trek components), but in order to use it you have to remove a couple of the spacer rings on the steering head effectively negating the extra rise. What is the proper way to get such a large increase in handlebar height on a hybrid bike? I'm kinda new at this, so still learning. Thanks!

You can buy "stem risers" on ebay quite cheaply, i've only used a quill type not a modern one, but i've seen them for sale.

Just curious as to why you feel the need though, all my bikes have drops from seat to bars of more than that, but i guess it's your bike and you can do what you want.

don't mean to hijack... if you want to get rid of the 25 degree stem I may be interested. I have a '12 8.5 DS and it comes stock with a 10 deg stem. I'm thinking the extra inch up may be good for my neck.

if your 25 deg becomes surplus to you shoot me a note and we can work it out.

A really good site for examining stem length vs height is here:

http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php

You can plug in various combinations of reach, rise angle, and spacers to compare to your baseline setup.

... but in order to use it you have to remove a couple of the spacer rings on the steering head effectively negating the extra rise...

I may have the wrong image here, but to me this is the correct method. Nothing wrong with removing spacer rings, that's why they are there, to help with height adjustment and to make up the space. Just move them top to bottom or vice versa.

I have a 120mm, 40 degree stem on our Trek Tandem as with having Reiter's Syndrome I don't bend at the back well. On my new Jamis Coda Sport, I did a handlebar swap from "0-degree rise" to "80mm (3 in.) rise" and that made the bike comfortable without changing the stem. Yes, it gives the bike a bit more of a "hybrid", than a "flat-bar road bike" look but it works! :)

Can't he just flip his stem over?

I'm assuming it's an angled stem.

You can buy "stem risers" on ebay quite cheaply, i've only used a quill type not a modern one, but i've seen them for sale.

Just curious as to why you feel the need though, all my bikes have drops from seat to bars of more than that, but i guess it's your bike and you can do what you want.

With the bars so low, I get neck pain from holding my head up to see. I've tried keeping my neck straight and tilting my eyes up to see, but this just isn't comfortable. I also have the ulnar nerve problem in my left hand and need to keep the weight off my hands and wrists to help that problem. Even though it's not aerodynamic, it would suit me better to sit more upright.

Can't he just flip his stem over?

I'm assuming it's an angled stem.

If I flipped it, it'd be angled more down than it is now.

I may have the wrong image here, but to me this is the correct method. Nothing wrong with removing spacer rings, that's why they are there, to help with height adjustment and to make up the space. Just move them top to bottom or vice versa.

The spacers are already under the stem, raising it as much as is possible. Good thought though!

Stems come in "different" lengths and degrees, your OEM/stock stem might be a 10 to 25 degree, you might want to look into a new stem, say in the 30 to 40 degree to "raise" the bar up and look at different lengths, to bring the bar closer to you. Say your stem is a 120mm length, if you went to a 105 or 90mm, that would bring the bars back towards you for "less strech" and go with a 30 to 40 degree to bring the bars UP, FYI, YMMV.

25 and 40 degree stems, wow. Those are not exactly standard spec.

I would first wonder about the head tube height of your new bike. It seems that despite picking a frame seemingly appropriate for your 6'2" body, you have picked one with a head tube that is far too low for the riding position you are after.

ape hanger bars seem to be in order here.

Jokes aside, there are enough types of bikes in the world that you should be able to find something to suit you.

The Mendota fits like a typical MTB, designed around a rider's torso between 45-60 degrees from horizontal. Flat bar road bikes offer a more aggressive position. City bikes offer a more relaxed position and you can sit nearly upright.

There should be hybrids that are MTB-ish (suspension fork, able to use relatively large tires) and can fit the OP without using a 40 degree stem.

I've ordered a cheap'ish MTB bar with a 50mm rise. That'll let me know if that's going to do what I want and, if so, I can buy a nicer one down the road. Looks like it ought to be a good solution.

Hope it works for you, as stated before, I had to go to a 80mm rise alloy bar to get comfortable on my 2012 Jamis Coda Sport, LOL, at least it's not quite in the "Ape Hanger" catagory! ;)

Also take a look at Dimension stems. They come in a large variety of lengths and rises, and the clamp is only 40mm tall--about as short as they come (and as you referred to, a taller clamp negates some of the effect of the rise)

I wanted to do the same thing to my bike and my LBS suggested an adjustable stem. I had one on a previous bike and it worked fine. I don't know if it will work in your case or what the cons might be for an adj. stem.

This is what I use.

http://www.amazon.com/STEM-RAISER-DELTA-AHEAD-BLACK/dp/B001D025OA/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1317242860&sr=1-1

Wow, that looks like a great solution. I ended up getting a MTB handlebar with a 2" rise and also have an adjustable stem coming Friday. Between those two and the other 2 stems and 2 handlebars I have, I think I can have a solution. I'm going to add that stem raiser to my Wish List though just in case. Thanks!

Watch out for steerer tube damage when/if you crash with tall or extended stems.

I don't think you will be putting enough force on the bars to worry about breaking the steerer during normal riding, but if you hit something hard with the front wheel I would start to be concerned. The tall bars multiply force like any ordinary lever.

I just added a 5" riser bar to my Trek 730. I cant stand to have all my weight on my palms, so now i ride with an upright back, and comfy! Looks like a comfort bike, well, it IS!

Latest update, what I've ended up with right now is an adjustable 95mm stem with the angle probably up around 60 degrees and my awesome elite trekking bars back on. I ordered the shorter stem length thinking it would get the bar closer to me, which would be desireable. Now that I've ridden it, I realizeded that once the stem angle is above 45 degrees a longer stem would also start getting the bar higher, so I've ordered a 125mm stem and we'll see which one I like better. I'm pretty sure just the adjustable stem will be all I need though, so I won't need to get the stem raiser.

Mendota has a unusual bar shape, mine feels sort of flat to me... but I like the ride,, almost tour worthy...

I look at mine as a sport hybrid. Nice to see a fellow Mendota owner. Not many of us out there :)

I just added a 5" riser bar to my Trek 730. I cant stand to have all my weight on my palms, so now i ride with an upright back, and comfy! Looks like a comfort bike, well, it IS!

Can you post a picture? I'm planning to start retro-fitting my old Trek 730 and about the only question mark at this point is what handlebars and how high? I've thought about drops, moustache, bullmoose, albatross, flat, riser (on it now) and I've also considered a stem extender but I've never seen one actually on a bike.

When I bought the bike back in 1995, I asked for higher handlebars and this was the LBS's solution:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/corwin1968/photo.jpg

looks exactly like that,Corwin! same! I still plan to buy an extended quill type stem,to get it up about 2 more inches. How is it that your TREK decal is on backwards?
go here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/573248-Post-pictures-of-your-Hybrid/page124

looks exactly like that,Corwin! same! I still plan to buy an extended quill type stem,to get it up about 2 more inches. How is it that your TREK decal is on backwards?
go here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/573248-Post-pictures-of-your-Hybrid/page124

Wow, that is a beauty!! I thought you had put a 5" stem riser on there instead of 5" riser handlebars. Looks good! I'd say my bars have about 2-3" of rise.

I bought the bike new in 1995 and in 2007 I "upgraded" to an aluminum 7.2 FX and left the 730 at my parent's house. I recently started riding again and reading about bikes and came to realize that what I liked so much about that bike might well have been that it was steel! I plan to swap bikes with my dad and if I really do prefer the 730, I'm going to do some major upgrades. I'm leaning towards putting a Nitto Albatross bar on it, maybe with a new stem (if needed). Long-term, I plan to powdercoat it, replace the wheels/tires, replace the drivetrain (I want silver instead of black) and a few other little things.

The photo is actually reversed. I had my dad take some pictures of it and he photographed the left side of the bike but most people photograph the right side so I flipped it in order to compare it to other bikes.

I can admit to being influenced by Rivendell Bicycle Works and specifically the Bombadil and Hunqapiller pictured below. The geometry of the 730 is actually pretty close to the same sized Bombadil, with slightly shorter chainstays. The "trail" of the two bikes may be quite different. Racking up the miles on my 7.2 FX is really leading to problems with pain in my elbows and tingling in my lower arms/hands. I think I'm going to try it Grant Pederson's way and see if it makes a difference. Besides, it should look cool as hell!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/corwin1968/Bombadil001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/corwin1968/Hunqwithbullmoose007.jpg

Here's what I ended up doing and after 100 or so miles I think this is a keeper. I put a 125mm adjustable stem on, kept the awesome trekking bars and added some GC3 bar ends with bar end mirror. I like it a lot! Now that I've done all of this, the CF handlebars creak when pushed or pulled and they didn't before. I put some of the Ergon LS100 handlebar reinforcers in and I suspect it's them that's causing the creaking. Maybe they just need to be tightened. I gotta figure that out, but otherwise I think I'm good to go.

This has been a 4 month effort to get a handlebar layout I like and get rid of my ulnar entrapment symptoms, and although I still have my tingly two fingers in my left hand I am hopefully confident that with the higher bars and some hand stretches I have started this week that it will go away. Time will tell. For the time being though I'm tickled to death!

good to hear Gary that you are winning with the nerve symptoms. I also have 'ring finger' numbness which doesn't go away after a ride so am considering going down a somewhat similar path you did.

I'll shoot you a PM about your 25 degree stem which I suspect you won't be needing anymore.

Rod

If your using flat handle bars changed the stem as each has a different angle and use riser mtb bars.

What kinda bars are those? I looked up trekking bars but they dont look like the ones in your photos. My problem is I need to raise the stem because my arms are short for my body causing me to lean over to much. I like those bars a lot and think they might work for me after adding my adjustable stem.


Here's what I ended up doing and after 100 or so miles I think this is a keeper. I put a 125mm adjustable stem on, kept the awesome trekking bars and added some GC3 bar ends with bar end mirror. I like it a lot! Now that I've done all of this, the CF handlebars creak when pushed or pulled and they didn't before. I put some of the Ergon LS100 handlebar reinforcers in and I suspect it's them that's causing the creaking. Maybe they just need to be tightened. I gotta figure that out, but otherwise I think I'm good to go.

This has been a 4 month effort to get a handlebar layout I like and get rid of my ulnar entrapment symptoms, and although I still have my tingly two fingers in my left hand I am hopefully confident that with the higher bars and some hand stretches I have started this week that it will go away. Time will tell. For the time being though I'm tickled to death!