Handlebars

[Stripes]

Hi cycling friends,
As a newbie to cycling with my wife we are usually, as you probably know, posting lots of daft newbie questions and the response is always fantastic and very positive
However, I have a new one that hopefully will helpy wife
The bike she has is giving her back pains as she can't bring the handlebars up high enough to avoid strain on her back as the bars have a short scope
Can you buy a new scope with bars and fit it to the bike
Thanks again and any help or advice would be really appreciated

 

[vickster]

Do you mean stem?

A picture of the bike might help

 

[DCLane]

If it's the stem then there's two possible options:

1. A stem riser: https://www.evanscycles.com/fwe-stem-riser-1-1-8-EV180192

2. An adjustable stem: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...gclid=CMesrtCI888CFUOfGwod6rED1A&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Stripes]

Do you mean stem?

A picture of the bike might help

Hope this helps
It's a rubbish pic but hopefully you can get an idea
Please excuse my wife for thinking she riding a Harley

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Theres an awful lot of that quill stem out of the frame.

Is the bike the right size for her? Something to look at before spending £ to find out it still isn't right

 

[Stripes]

Theres an awful lot of that quill stem out of the frame.

Is the bike the right size for her? Something to look at before spending £ to find out it still isn't right

Great answer
I was thinking the bike maybe too small for her as we bought it second hand to get started with without really having a clue

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Personally, I'd probably want to start again with a bigger bike, but you could also get a completely different stem and handlebars to make it more upright; It can be a little bit of a faff and it won't necessarily look great, although it might. Something like a Dutch handlebar set up would probably work well and it'll cost you far less than a new bike. This link is for a shop in Bristol but it does show you what can be done:
http://www.jakesbikes.co.uk/content/high_handlebars.php#.WA3QKOUrKUl

I don't think there's much more you can do with that stem and bar to drastically alter the position, it's at (or possibly beyond) its limit now.

 

[Stripes]

Theres an awful lot of that quill stem out of the frame.

Is the bike the right size for her? Something to look at before spending £ to find out it still isn't right

Hi, I've just looked at the quill stem adjuster, would that help?

 

[Stripes]

Personally, I'd probably want to start again with a bigger bike, but you could also get a completely different stem and handlebars to make it more upright; It can be a little bit of a faff and it won't necessarily look great, although it might. Something like a Dutch handlebar set up would probably work well and it'll cost you far less than a new bike. This link is for a shop in Bristol but it does show you what can be done:
http://www.jakesbikes.co.uk/content/high_handlebars.php#.WA3QKOUrKUl

I don't think there's much more you can do with that stem and bar to drastically alter the position, it's at (or possibly beyond) its limit now.

Thank you
Will definitely look into this more

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Hi, I've just looked at the quill stem adjuster, would that help?

If the frame is too small, lowering would be a starting point.

If the frame is too big, there's not an awful lot that can be done.

 

[dim]

before spending money on new handlebars and a stem, make sure that the bike is set up properly (saddle height, saddlle position, etc)

lots of people get lower back pain or knee pain when they cycle longer distances, and many times it's due to an incorrect bike fit or that their muscles are not used to taking the strain on longer rides (core strength)

when I first started, I used a ridgeback comet hybrid as my daily commuter. Short distances were fine, but once I started going on longer rides (60-70km), I would get lower left back pain after approx 35km.

Someone on another forum gave me a link to a site where you enter all your physical dimensions.... I followed the instructions and measurements for saddle position etc, and my back pain never returned

here's the link (use the results from the eddy bike fit):

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp#type

 

[Spiderweb]

Hope this helps
It's a rubbish pic but hopefully you can get an idea
Please excuse my wife for thinking she riding a Harley

Can you post a better, side on pic of the bike please.
Your wife clearly looks like a Ninja warrior but the bike itself is unclear.

 

[Stripes]

Can you post a better, side on pic of the bike please.
Your wife clearly looks like a Ninja warrior but the bike itself is unclear.

Lol thanks, I have attached pic, hope it helps

 

[Spiderweb]

I'm not sure that the bike is too small, if you feel the seat is set at the right height then the bike looks ok size wise. The handlebar grips are positioned higher than the saddle so the riding position should be quite upright so no need really to adjust/swap the quill stem.
If your wife is new to cycling then this may be the problem, get her to persevere, the pain is likely to ease as her core strengthens.

 

[Brand X]

There are several guides on YouTube on how to correctly set up a bike; this one is for a road racing bike but the principles are basically the same. It's really important to get a bike set up just right.