Can MTB handlebar be raised by adding spacer-rings ?

[bdutta]

Hi,

As per Decathlon BTWIN guys, they've said that it is not possible to
raise the height of MTB handlebars, which do not have the in-built
facility for this, and they were not aware of the additional ring
approach. In fact one of the chaps genuinely tried to help me, by
opening the stem, and the from what I understood, the problem was that
the screw on the head-cap was too short s.t. only rings with a total
height of around 1inch, only can the fitted. I guess, if I can find a
replacement head-cap with a screw that is around 3-4 inches, I could
actually pull this off.

Anyone who could comment on this approach to raise the handlebar
height ?

Thanks,
BD

PS> The cycle in question is a BTWIN RR 5.0, size "L", whose
handlebar, I feel is quite low for me, as I need to bend over quite a
bit.

[Shankar Shastry]

Get a stem riser like this, should solve the issue.

Normally, if the handlebar is way too low, it may be because you bought the wrong frame size. 

Regards,

Shankar

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[Banibrata Dutta]

Thanks, Shankar.

Looks like that the height increment it does is around 1-2 inches at most. Or are there longer ones available.
Are these available in India, and how much might these cost here ? If they add just as much cost as the difference with better bikes, then might not be a good idea.

[Banibrata Dutta]

Another option which I found is to use an adjustable stem, which can be turned from 70deg to upto 150 deg. As I get it, mounting it upside down, can get you down to 30deg, which can give you about an inch of rise (or so I hope).

BTW, you are absolutely bang-on, regarding the "chosen wrong frame size" thing.

Problem is, so far the places I've visited i.e. LBS and Decathlon, the folks have very little (if none) idea regarding fitment and correct sizing. So far, I've been relying on my own research done online. I might've preferred visiting places like BOTS, but they don't seem to cater to under 20K price segment (esply. after the recent set of price hikes).

[Sunil Raghavan]

I had the same problem with my RR 5.2 and got a stem raiser from the
US - Amazon.com - but was delivered in the US and fetched here for me.
Problem was not with frame size - just that the position was too
aggressive. You get 3 inches of added height which worked fine for me.
The adjustable stem is not recommended for MTBs - apparently due to
higher vibration / shocks it should handle.

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Alloy-Bicycle-Stem-Raiser/dp/B000FHBED0/ref=pd_sim_sg_cy_1

Sunil

On Mar 25, 5:40 pm, Banibrata Dutta <banibrata.du...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Another option which I found is to use an adjustable stem, which can be
> turned from 70deg to upto 150 deg. As I get it, mounting it upside down,
> can get you down to 30deg, which can give you about an inch of rise (or so
> I hope).
>
> BTW, you are absolutely bang-on, regarding the "chosen wrong frame size"
> thing.
>
> Problem is, so far the places I've visited i.e. LBS and Decathlon, the
> folks have very little (if none) idea regarding fitment and correct sizing.
> So far, I've been relying on my own research done online. I might've
> preferred visiting places like BOTS, but they don't seem to cater to under
> 20K price segment (esply. after the recent set of price hikes).
>
> On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 4:26 PM, Banibrata Dutta

> <banibrata.du...@gmail.com>wrote:

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Thanks, Shankar.
>
> > Looks like that the height increment it does is around 1-2 inches at most.
> > Or are there longer ones available.
> > Are these available in India, and how much might these cost here ? If they
> > add just as much cost as the difference with better bikes, then might not
> > be a good idea.
>

> > On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 1:07 PM, Shankar Shastry <shanka...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >> Get a stem riser like this<http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-SATORI-HEAD-UP4-stem-riser-adaptor-11-7cm...>,

> >> should solve the issue.
>
> >> Normally, if the handlebar is way too low, it may be because you bought
> >> the wrong frame size.
>
> >> Regards,
> >> Shankar
>