I just got my bike back from the LBS where they installed a new threadless headset and fork. I had them leave the 300mm steerer tube uncut (they thought I was nuts and it took two phone calls and a visit to the shop to convince them I really did not want it cut) so that I can experiment with handlebar positions.

I've got the flat (25mm rise) bar about where I want it and I ended up with 70mm of spacers below the stem and 55cm of spacers above the stem. The stem has a very steep 40 degree rise. However, I still feel a little cramped on distance to the bars so I want to move them out a centimeter or two. I see two options:

1) Get a similar rise stem that is longer

2) Get a lesser rise stem of the same length (100mm) and add appropriate spacer(s) below it.

Does one of these method have an advantage over the other? I checked the fork manufacturer's instruction and there is no spacer limit noted.

Also, I plan to eventually put drop bars on the bike and I don't know if the stem height & length would change for drops vs flats.

3) Get a proper sized frame.

There is merit to this comment. If you really need 70 mm of spacers below the stem, something is wrong with your frame size. What is the steerer material and diameter? If it's a carbon steerer, even a 1-1/8" diameter one, your spacer stack is dangerously tall as the highest maximum i've ever seen is 50 mm.

Try an adjustable angle stem.. to fine tune rise, too
they also come in 10CM..
You plan to make the drops and flats interchangeable?


I have trekking bars on my .. trekking bike . they are a little higher than the saddle .
back up to .3M .. which is what I like..
it was a hard thing to restore height ( on a 2nd hand bike)
with a factory formula sawn off short steerer tube ,

so Unlike other blind guessers, who cannot see your body posture on the bike , either ,
it's OK , to ride a lot.
and then decide the saw cut height.

you might discuss the options with someone in the same place
that you are, that can see you on the bike.

touring bike? go ride for 3 days and come back,
and see what its like doing several whole days in the saddle.

I probably could use a slightly larger frame but that's not going to happen for financial reasons. I'm 5'11" with about an 84cm PHB and the bike is a 53.5cm with an upsloping top tube. My biggest issue is that I weigh 375 lbs and have degenerative disc disease so I have to keep my bars a bit higher to ride any length of time.

The steerer is 1" steel. I swapped another spacer (didn't measure but probably 1cm) so that there are 6cm of spacers under the stem. That made the saddle-to-bar distance much better and I'll have to ride a few times to get a feel for the height. I've been gradually training myself over the last couple of months to ride with the bars lower but I'm still at 4cm or so above the saddle height.

I'm 5'9" lost an inch since my growth spirt ended many decades past ..

I have a 54 high 55 long bike frame I suggest trekking bars ,
as there is a place to reach out to the front , + sides + back of those ..
in their figure 8 bend [rather than up and down] and you wont have to completely replace
all the shifters and brake levers as the bars are25.4 center and 22.2 tube just like
the mountain bike ones..

hard for us girth enhanced folks to get in the drops anyhow..

Certainly. You want a stem with a rise that eliminates as many spacers as possible, using less metal to create a more rigid connection.

The steerer being steel is good if you're running a lot of spacers, but the 1" dimension is not so hot. The closer to the headset your stem is mounted, the more rigid it'll be.

That makes sense and was sort of what I was leaning towards. I jacked the stem all the way to the top of the steer tube, took off my flat bar, installed an upside down Albatross bar (to sort of simulate a moustache bar) and swapped all the controls over. I went outside and as I went to mount the bicycle I could feel the steerer tube flexing as I put weight on it (the handlebars have a ton of pull back so the leverage was really high) and I immediately reconsidered and switched back to the flat-bar. Right now I'm at a 6cm stack of spacers which puts the bar about 4cm above the seat. I haven't ridden enough to know if there will be rigidity issues but if there are, I will research other options to pursue.