digibud

When I first got my Roubaix I inquired about raising/extending the head tube so I might be a bit more upright. I have physical disabilities that necessitate a less-than-aggressive position. I was told that could not be done. I got a stem that angled up a bit and that was just fine. After a recent ride as our group sat around at lunch a friend asked me about putting an extender on his bike to get him more upright and I told him what I'd been told at which time a gal showed us her bike, a carbon fiber bike, that had a very long (6 or 7 inches) extender put on it that raised her handlebars to the point of her riding nearly upright. It must have had a really long screw in there. Clearly that kind of thing CAN be added to the head tube. I'm guessing it doable but not recommended. I had to nod and admit I was wrong and clearly it's doable. The lbs that sold her the bike (I think it was a "Lemond" CF bike of some sort if I recall correctly) put the extender on. Comments? (I'm not interested in doing this for myself but curious about the mechanics/wisdom/problems.)

fietsbob

Longer head tube is something the builder would do , before the paint goes on.

but you have a factory bike.. the best you can do after the fact,

is a longer steerer tube on the fork. either just buy an uncut replacement..

but if there is a Carbon steerer , that is too much leverage..

I extended the steerer on my steel steerer fork with a stem raiser ,

from the NL based BBB cycle parts company.

HillRider

As fietsbob noted, there are steerer extenders for threadless steerers that fit in place of a stem but have an extended post that a real stem can be fastened to. Here is one version:

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...00_-1___202442

However, as he further noted, these should be limited to steel or aluminum steerers and should not be used on carbon steerers. If your bike has a carbon steerer you can only add a higher angle stem or start with a new, uncut fork.

Camilo

The new/uncut fork thing only works so far. Carbon fiber steerers are generally (always?) limited to about 80 mm above the highest point of frame support. For integrated headsets, this is the top of the head tube. For external cup headsets, this is the top of the upper cup.

Functionally, this means 30-45 mm of spacers (including the cone spacer) below the stem (which are genearlly 35-40mm tall). Obviously, this would include any steer tube extender since they are nothing but spacers. They don't provide any mechanical support of the steer tube above the head tube.

Actually, every bike with a carbonfiber steertube fork that's bought in an LBS has undoubtedly already been cut to the manufacturer's limit and if the OP has not cut it further, buying a new fork won't do any good unless it's a different type of fork (i.e. with a metal steer tube).

I hope that makes sense. But the bottom line is that unless the steer tube was actually cut down from the way it came from the shop (which is bloody unlikely w/ a Spec. roubaix), the OP probably just needs to get a high-angle stem. My buddy had to finally give up the ghost and put (I think) either a +17 or +24 degree stem on his fancy schmancy Cannondale System Six (maybe a Super Six... a full racing bike). He was embarassed until the first time he rode two hours and felt good.

So, OP, measure from the top of your head tube (NOT the top of the cone spacer) to the top of your stem - if it's 70-80 mm (or more), buying a new, uncut fork won't do you a bit of good. If it's shorter than that, find out what the max. steer tube length is for that fork, and decide if it's an option.

fietsbob

Maybe SF based Craig Calfee can graft onto the frame some more head tube,

He is a Carbon fiber frame builder, and does a lot of repairs to Broken bikes.

but OP may be better off selling the bike that does not fit any more
and getting one that does.


Maybe she on the other bike was trying to adapt
to a too long a top tube males bike frame type.

Camilo

The Specialized Roubaix is among the tallest head tube/top tube proportions in stock bikes. There are others, definitely worth checking into. I have a Felt Z which I love for it's tall head tube (on which I have full 40mm spacers + a flipped up +7 stem!).

I have a riding friend who has a nice ~5 year old Raleigh Cadent road bike, carbon fiber, Shimano 105 type stuff. This is a full road-type bike w/ STI shifters, downturn bars, etc. The reason I mention that is that now they market a Cadent, with I believe more of a hybrid or flat bar road bike design. His is not a hybrid.

Anyway, his Cadent has a signficantly taller head tube than any Roubaix or similar type tall head tube frame I've seen. I mean, anyone can see it without needing a tape measure. it's gotta be 2 or more cm taller than other tall head tube road bikes (i.e. Spec. Roubaix, Felt Z, etc) of the same general size (in terms of horizontal top tube size). My friend has always loved that bike. He rides a lot faster than me. Why? He's stronger, the bike doesn't really matter as long as it's comfortable. He never complains except for his butt, but he's never put any effort into experimenting with saddles or shorts, just complains. But his neck, shoulders, etc. are never an issue.