Originally Posted by
verktyg
...Read descriptions under pictures.
The PO may have wanted to have the bars a little high so left the steerer longer. That seems to be the most logical reason.
I've seen modern bikes with as much as 2" of spacers on the steerer... It looks sort of normal.
Thanks. I'd take sloar's suggestion but I'm loath to cut anything that can't be glued back on. And since I've never been especially limber I wouldn't mind keeping the stem a bit higher anyway. It's just that my experience is limited enough that I've never seen one with this big a difference.
Fender, it did not come from Walnut Creek.
But it would seem to have been someone's custom choice.