So I've been playing with my stem angle, flipping, adjusting, etc and I was curious as to what methods are typically used to center your bar in the stem. Do you just go by eye, or do you measure, and if so, from where to where as it's hard to go from the stem the the edge of the bar as it curves...

i've been having this problem recently too. even measuring it is still a bit of guess work because you have to measure to the same point on both sides and the bars are curved and all over the place. i don't have the answer, but thanks for the question.

I go by eye. Use logos or markings on the bar as guide points.

Close 1 eye, align by centering the largest tick line to your stem face plate.

what tick line?

My eyeballs have been calibrated, so that's the best way for me.

Some bars have lines on them, which is like cheating, really.

Have you ever hung two pictures, side by side, centered on a wall? Well, it's like that.

on a previous occasion i couldn't work out why i kept riding around in circles.

I use my calibrated eyeballs.

I ask my bars to join me in some tai chi and meditation.

I have, but never on a curved wall, and on a wall, I can mark the middle and measure. If I mark the middle of my bar, with the stem I have the mark would be covered by the faceplate of the stem.

This last time, after first centering by eye, I I took a straight edge and held it against the top and measured from the edge of the stem to the first point where the curve starts on both sides. This obviously isn't exact as the tape gets in the way a bit, but I think it's close. At first I was thinking I could measure the distance to the edge of the tap from the stem, but then I remembered that there isn't any guarantee that whoever wrapped the tape was anal enough to have centered the bars and ended the tape at the exact same spot on both sides.

Ever bad I've ever had, had marking on it... I assumed they were all like this.

Mount it. Ride it. Adjust if noticeably off. Repeat.

Bicycling is not dog show. A judge is not going to walk up and check, and give you a ribbon or DQ.

Alright, no one in here is even close to enough OCD for my taste.

How do I get the bars centered? I take a yard stick measuring outside to outside of the plug openings on the bars and find center on the yardstick. I take the bars and set them on a level surface with the clamp section immediately above the yard stick and drop a plumb down from above. I mark perfect center on the bars and then trace it 360. I find perfect center on my stem clamp at the bar and mark just above the clamping section perfect center. To complete, I mate the two on the lines.

Yes, I really did.

Now, getting the bars looking perfect [to me]... I take an angle level and determine the slope of the TT immediately behind the headset. I match that angle to the last inch of the bars at the plug.

Hoods: I set them initially and then adjust till the flat spot behind the ball of the shifter is level (again using the angle level). Getting the Toe-in perfect on the levers is also easy I test right side (dominant hand) to find what feels the best and then measure tip of shifter ball to the stem for distance, then I match on left side.

OCD: CHECK.

Never really thought about it. You can just eye-ball it and it will be about right. If there are no markings on the bar, you could just break out a measuring tape and be exact if you are OCD about that kind of thing.

Mine has markings so I just make sure the markings are the same length on each side (using a caliper of course).

How do you all know your bodies are symmetrical?

Lasers.

Using a plumb bob, yard stick, calipers, a Sharpie, and a level I was able to determine that my body is symmetrical.

Every bar has a center mark. If there are no other marks, measure an inch to either side of the center mark, make pencil marks for reference, then adjust the bar by eye. Or you can be really sophisticated and measure the stem faceplate and make marks on the bar based on that.

I know that line you scratched into the bars and stem has to be annoying as hell. You really should do something about that. Just saying. Also, can you tell us about how you aligned the labels on the tires to the valve stems so that they are the same front and rear?

This

I'm glad you asked... I use mechanical pencil for the marks on the stem and handlebar, it rubs off with a swab

I line up the "I" on the Grand Prix 4000s on each side so the each side is symmetrical to the valve. Front hub is readable from the saddle and at the beginning of each ride I put the valve down.

I am pretty sure that mark is still there.

But what about the pencil on the side of the bar covered up by the stem? Doesn't it bother you knowing that there's pencil on your bar, even if you can't see it.

Tbh it would actually bother me, which is why I'm glad my bar has centre marks