lab90210

i park my bike on a walkway and would like to be able to move the handlebar in line with the frame to allow neighbours to pass by

bikeme

What's keeping you from just turning it--shifter and brake cables limiting turning radius? The only way is to get set up with longer cables. Cables should be long enough to completely turn the h-bar to its limit (usually the top tube) in case of a crash so things aren't torn off.

xenologer

I think he means:
he wants to turn the bars, without also turning the front wheel
so everything flattens out in one plane

Yeah you can do that, it just means unbolting your stem everytime you park.
which is lame

dabac

And I would like to be 25, financially independent and a marvel of anatomical perfection.


Now what?


But I'm assuming what you are actually trying to do is to ask how you turn your handlebar.


To start with, you'll probably end up turning the STEM rather than the bar to achieve what you want, as that's (usually) the part that decides that angle of bar vs bike.


How you go about that depends on what stem you have.
There are two main designs, quill stems and threadless stems.
Quill stems, there's a bolt pointing down in the direction of the fork. Loosen this bolt - one turn will do, tap it down and turn the stem.
This is likely to upset the height adjustment too. When you get the bike ready to ride again, watch out for a minimum insertion marker.
If there isn't one, you'll want the cutout for the wedge to start at least 1" below the top of the headset. (where the stem disappear into the bike)
Threadless stems, there are (usually) two pinch bolts pointing sideways. Loosen these a little and turn the stem.
This might eventually upset the headset preload, make your bike go "clonk" when you apply the front brake.
When this happens, do a net search for "threadless headset adjustment".


AFAIK there are no after-market add-ons to make bar turning an easier, tool-less process.
Height, yes, but not angle.
At best, with a threadless headset, you can add a clamp below the stem, to keep preload intact even if you faff about with the stem.
If your front wheel has a quick-release skewer, you might find it easier to pop the wheel out before turning.

xenologer

...so in summary:
there's enough potential complications that if you had to ask, then you're likely to mess things up doing it.

best course of action; leave the bike alone and tell your neighbor to quit bumping into it when they walk by.

europa

Unless you've got really wide handlebars (as in beach cruiser type), you're not going to gain much without messing with pedals as well, and even then not much. Frankly, if this is an issue, you're parking your bike in a poor place and would be better served to find somewhere else.

blakcloud

If by chance you have a quill stem you can do exactly what you want with a product called Flipcrown. Maybe someone has something similar for threadless but I haven't seen one. I never used a Flipcrown but I saved the link because I thought it was ingenious especially for those of us that live in smaller apartments. For the naysayers about wide pedals the same company has you covered there as well.

Slash5

Easy way is to take your front wheel off and then turn the handlebars sideways. That's how I store my bikes in the basement.