ChrisR76

Okay I have a Gary Fisher Nirvana and it has an adjustable stem. I have noticed as of late that when I am standing to power up a hill that my handle bars are wobbling. I have checked all the bolts and they are tight.
If anyone has any ideas I need help!

moxfyre

When you say wobbling, do you mean that something actually feels LOOSE? Do the handlebars seem to be moving up and down vertically, side to side, rotating, or what?

The other possibility is that your handlebars are merely flexing. Lightweight aluminum handlebars are not very stiff. My road bike handlebars are noticeably flexy in the drops...

ridelugs

h bars dont flex that much, if they did they would break. the stem is at fault. i've seen the same thing happen on various fisher bikes. if you cant get your local shop to give you a non adjustable stem for free, at least they can order you one. dimension stems come in lots of angles and lengths, and are cheap, about 20-25 dollars. salsa stems are marginally nicer, at 35 dollars or so. neither will ever have issues under normal usage.

Bikewer

You might check to see that the headset is in adjustment as well; a bit of slop could give you the impression of a "wobbly" bar/stem.

moxfyre

*My* handlebars flex up to 1/4 inch sometimes... furthermore flexible things are generally less likely to break, no more. It's possible that it's the stems, but it's also possible that the handlebars are the source of the problem.

ridelugs

how exactly do you measure that flex? do you put the fork in a solid fixture, then weight the bars and occilate the fixture, then use calipers to measure the flex? or is .25 inches just a guestimate? the thick cheap 6000 series bars on a nirvana do not flex that much, and if they did, it would be flex happening at the stem, not the bars. unless you have a wet noodle of a stem, you arnt gunna get noticible flex at that point. drop bars can flex a bit, as can super lite butted mtn bars, but everything else, not so much.

ChrisR76

I just checked it last night in my garage. I grabbed my left side of the bar and lifted up the right side dipped down a little. Then I pushed down, the right side would go up. I was thinking of replacing the stem. But thought I would trough it out to all the bicycle geniuses on this awesome forum. Thanks for all the input and will take more if you got em.

AndrewP

I fixed my flexing adjustable stem by repeated tightening of all the bolts. My son's required loctite on the bolts and it's been fine for a couple of years.

cudak888 

More details please:

Did you lift/push the bar gently to get that effect? Did the stem/bars give a "clunk" when you did so, or did it simply feel as if the assembly is bending? How much does it drop/rise?

I had a similar problem on a Jamis hybrid equipped with an adjustable stem - a bit of tightening on the adjustable pivot took care of the problem. This can't be your case, of course, as you say everything is nice and snug.

I'd give a shot at replacing the stem. I don't care much for the pivoting neck type - just another thing to go wrong in the worst of places...

Take care,

-Kurt