I know BD probably carries a negative connotation, considering it's so much cheaper than LBS bikes, but I'm a student, and I don't have money growing out of my ass.

Recently, I purchased a 2013 windsor knight. it's going to come with a 44 cm handlebar, but my preference is 42. Would it be appropriate to consult my LBS to switch out this handlebar for another one at a small transaction fee? Or should I just purchase one from online, and leave the 44 cm laying around collecting dust?

I would just do it myself, but then I do most of my work myself.

LBS will sell you new bars but likely will not give you any credit for the old ones. You can certainly give it a shot and see what they say.

Otherwise, buy new bars on line and try to sell your old ones.

I may have misunderstood your question. Were you asking if they would swap the bars out for the ones that came with your bike and just take the old ones more or less in trade? If that is the case, then no, that's not right.

Some shops might give a bit of credit when swapping out parts on assembly, but it has to be pretty advantageous for them to make it worthwhile. A single, relatively inexpensive, item like bars, I doubt it.

yea I figured that would probably be the case. I guess I'll just have to post a craigslist ad for this thing that probably won't sell

I'd suggest using one of the "for trade" threads here on BF to find a replacement and then trade your old bars off for something else you can use.

Put a few miles on it before deciding. Small differences don't usually matter too much. Also, the other aspects of the bar, such as flaring and where they measure from may negate the anticipated difference. Ride a hundred miles, then assess.

Just that point-of -sale swaps at LBS will give you trade in credit.

but since you skipped the shop,
buy what you now want, &
Ebay.. see what the take off auctions for..

I've never spend $800 on anything in my life. 42 cm fits me perfectly, and that's what I want to stick with. This bike needs to be perfect.

Whoa, easy killer, let's work on a post for the FT threads- what are you looking for? Compact drop? Ergo? Classic bend? Clamp diameter? Silver? Black? Grooved? One groove? Two?

What will you do while yours are in transit and your new ones are in transit? Are you up for the work of swapping them and taping the bars (it's not hard, just time consuming)?

excellent question. No color preference. Not really sure between compact, ergo or classic. What's the difference between compact and classic anyway?

also, what do you mean grooved?

Looks like you've got some googling ahead of you.

Yeah, "you should really use the search engine more often...."

lol

How do you know what "perfect" is if you don't know what any of those terms mean?




You seem to be the type that only takes advice that they want to hear, but I'll try anyways: The post above that recommends you ride it awhile before changing anything was a smart suggestion. 2 cm is an awfully small amount of distance to worry about. Since you don't have "money growing out of your ass", why don't you try the bars as they come, then determine where you need to go from there?

FYI I have at least 10 different bars hanging in the basement.
It took a while to find what worked for me, so I bought things used, at swap meets, here on BF. Now I have want I like, but it took a while to find out. I tried 44 and 42, for me 42 works the best, but I gotta tell you, I could ride and be happy with a 44 in the bar that I like, so, I'd say look around and realize that it takes a few rides to really know what works for you.
dave

My own experience is that 2 cm is not a big difference in width, I have bars that vary a few cm either way on my drop bar bikes. But 2cm makes a huge difference when it comes to the reach to the bars and where I like my hands to naturally fall. It's all personal preferences, however.

Change the bars yourself. You have to remove the bar tape, remove the brifters, remove the bars. Then do all that in reverse and you have your bars installed for the time you put in to it.

Two cm = 9/16". Can you honestly tell me you can hold your hands out at arms-length and tell me whether they're 16.5 inches apart or 17.3 inches?

Oh, and what the others said. Bike shops shouldn't turn down servicing your bike; but expect to pay for parts and service. They might give deals to loyal customers, but you're not one.

You are trying to save money by going the BikeDirect route and now want to spend money to get your bike to fit right? Why not ride what you have for a little while and see if you really need that new handlebar?

^ that's what I intend to do. But seeing so many people on here being so anal about bike fit, I thought handlebars would actually be a big deal. apparently not.

9/16" is how many grams??? haha