Giant Cycle - How do I raise the handlebar stem ?

[noonoosdad]

I picked up my brand new Giant CRS City 2.0 Hybrid cycle from the Bike shop yesterday - I have a question which I should have asked when I was there but forgot, Duh !
This may seem like a really stupid question to ask but I would like to raise the handlebar stem on this bike and cannot work out how to do it and wonder whether it's height can be adjusted at all ? - I note that it has a plain cone type fitting at the top of the stem, Can anyone anyone assist with technical advice please ?

[Steve]

I imagine you have a threadless headset, as in:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html

If yours has all the spacers below the stem, as in Sheldon's picture, then the only way the handlebars can be raised is by fitting a new stem with a steeper upwards angle; or possibly by inverting your existing stem so that it points up rather than down. If there are spacers above the stem then you need to remove the top cap and re-arrange stem & spacers & re-fit the top cap - which needs to be done with care as its adjustment controls the headset bearing - follow Sheldon's advice!

Or how about going back to the shop & asking them to set things up for you?

[Edwards]

I checked and saw the bike does have ahead type stem, so this fromSJS would appear to be what you need. It does seem expensive though.

[NewHorizon]

Or this www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3970 from Chain Reaction, post free, (although out of stock).

Hubjub stock a 45 degree A-head stem in various lengths for £18 here www.hubjub.co.uk/etc/etc.htm#ds

[ncutler]

There are also adjustable stems that allow you to tinker with the height & reach.

You should find several stems here, including an adjustable one:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/CategoryProducts.aspx?categoryName=Stems%20-%20Standard&cat=cycle

Other retailers stock them as well - they are quite common.

Nick

[noonoosdad]

I would like to thank everyone for their advice....I thought it may not be as simple as undoing a screw !

[horizon]

:?: I picked up my brand new Giant CRS City 2.0 Hybrid cycle from the Bike shop yesterday - I have a question which I should have asked when I was there but forgot, Duh !
This may seem like a really stupid question to ask but I would like to raise the handlebar stem on this bike and cannot work out how to do it and wonder whether it's height can be adjusted at all ? - I note that it has a plain cone type fitting at the top of the stem, Can anyone anyone assist with technical advice please ?

No, not a stupid question at all. You go in to buy a brand new bike. It doesn't fit (the handlebars are too low). They don't check it fits you. You get home and realise it's an aheadset. You cannot raise it because they don't raise. The best you will manage is a £20 raiser and after that you are stuck. Someone has cut the steerer tube too low. Who? The factory or the shop? This is a fundamental problem with this type of headset. Leave it high and you risk an injury (see another post), cut it short and it is no longer adjustable. Who decides and when? As far as I can see the shop has failed to sell you the right bike.

Can someone enlighten me further on this?

[fatboy]

Is it just me or does this thread highlight what I've always suspected about Ahead sets and that is that you can't really adjust the height like you can on a threaded headset. So why is this better?

[aesmith]

I wondered that as well. In the old days handlebars where adjustable without having to either buy a new stem, or saw a bit off the top of the forks.

Cheaper for production, as they don't have to make different threaded forks for different frame sizes?

To me they look inelegant as well, especially on a road bike.

Tony S

[ianr1950]

There is no more chance of injury with an ahead stem than with a quill stem.

[horizon]

There is no more chance of injury with an ahead stem than with a quill stem.

ianr1950: I didn't think there was either but a post somewhere on here talks about an injury caused by one. I presume that they are cut short then for aesthetic reasons. The problem occurs if they are either cut too short, too soon (as in the OP's case??) or if the bike is used by another rider, for example if it were to be sold on. By the way, I don't have a problem with ahead stems myself (3 bikes in the family with them) but am concerned about this issue of fit. I am also pretty sure that a new upright stem or raiser will solve most fit problems but not everyone is aware of that (although the company that makes the raiser is probably doing a roaring trade.) I think that it is also true to say that the quill stem also sometimes needed the same treatment, i.e. replacing or raising (not just adjusting).

I am a bit concerned however that the bike shop let the OP go off with the new bike without making sure that he was happy with the fit. I would also appreciate it if a bike shop person could just come on here and explain exactly when the steerer tube is cut and how they decide by how much.

I would really like to know this.

[ianr1950]

Sorry horizon I wasn't implying that you thought that and I agree that really the shop supplying the bike should have ensured it fits correctly.
That situation is the main reason that I have not bought a complete bike for years, I have always bought the components seperately and built them up myself or in the last case I told the LBS not to cut the steerer until I had got my position right.
That doesn't help those who are not in a position to do this though and a good bike shop would have sorted it out correctly wouldn't they.

[noonoosdad]

Happy Days ! - just been back to the Bike Shop this morning and had one of these adjustable thingies fitted. This is now made it it a much more pleasant riding position.