YULitle

I have this old Trek 1000. It's my commuter, but as a commuter for tooling around town, it is very uncomfortable. It is too small for me. The seat to crank distance is fine, but when I'm leaned over, it's very cramped. So, I have what I've heard called a gooseneck handlebar post.

It appears like I may have to replace that. My goal is to have handle bars up higher so that I can be in a more upright position. Is there a way to do this without removing the handle bar post? Is it worth it? I've been looking at a Trek 7000 as a replacement, but would gladly just use the 1000 if it were more comfortable.

Thanks

samsmeg

Your Trek 1000 looks a great bike for commuting. I'm afraid there isn't much you can do without replacing the stem (handlebar post). If you want the bars to come away from you more but want to keep the more upright position you can get stems that are tall but also are longer horizontally.

For example Nitto do a stem called the Technomic and the Technomic Deluxe which are probably the tallest stems (195mm) on the market but also have a range of lengths to suit different riders. The Technomic Deluxe is about $48 (£24) but is really well made and has made my ride really comfortable.

All you need is a couple of allen keys to undo the wedge expander in the stem (which is the visible bolt on top of the stem), take out the stem and unwrap bar tape on one side and take off one of the levers by undoing the clamp bolt so you can slide out the handlebars from the stem clamp. Put the new stem in and slide the handlebars back through the stem carefully and rewrap the handlebar tape. Decide a comfortable height of the stem just by loosening the stem bolt. OR you can just take it to a bike shop but whats the harm in learning!

It isn't too hard and it will save you having to fork out on a new bike!

Sam

Camilo

There are two dimensions as samsmeg mentioned - height and length of the stem. Your "gooseneck" (I grew up calling them that) is commonly known as a "threaded" stem (as opposed to "threadless").

I think you should try to figure out a little better if you need to adjust the horizontal length or height, or both by analyzing your fit a little bit.

WHen you mentioned feeling cramped, that usually refers to the handlebars being too close to the seat for comfort. That would mean you need a longer stem - in horizontal length. The stem you have pictured does look pretty short. How long is it, measured from the middle (of the top) of the vertical shaft to the middle of the handlebars?

Actually, your handlebars look pretty high, the stem height looks fairly high to me. But without a photo of your entire bike - from the side - it's hard to say. How high are the bars compared to the saddle? Easiest way is to stand bike level and measure from the top of the bars to the floor, and same for the seat.

I think a little more info and /or photo would help us make advice.

YULitle

Thanks for the feedback!

Well, I was looking for a more upright stance. Right now, I'm leaning over about 45 degrees and I'm fairly crunched. And, I think the crunch is, like you said, because the distance from my seat to the handlebars is too short. I tried to remedy this by raising my handlebars (beyond the max line .) Here's my side view.


I also have the seat post up too high. I'm trying to make this small bike work for me... I want to explore all options before I try to pitch the new bike song to my wife.

JiveTurkey

Unfortunately, as you've mentioned, the frame appears much too small. That's too much seat post sticking out for a traditional road frame with horizontal top tube. To get your torso angle above 45-degrees, you need to get the handlebars above the seat and that will be difficult.

A quick fix would be to put on some 2- or 3-inch riser handlebars. The more extensive solution would be a new frame that fits better. But take a look at the geometry of the Trek 7000 on Trek's website (https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...0_series/7000/), you may find risers bars on the current 1000 will get you a similar fit.

Joshua A.C. New

That's a cool bike for a much smaller person than you.