SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
The mystery black painted Raleigh MTB I recently salvaged has a sizing issue; the large 23" frame is manageable in height as I've got long legs. However the reach is massive as the frame TT length is 23", plus there's a 125mm stem fitted with fairly straight handlebar. If I measure from the expander bolt head to a straight edge laid across the centre line of the bar ends the effective stem length is still 4", so I've got a 27" reach distance from the seat post to the hand positions on the bars. My Pioneer hybrid frame, also 23" size, but with a 22" TT length, has a total reach distance of under 25" measured the same way - a big difference. I need to fit a shorter stem for acceptable riding comfort, and have a couple in the 80-90 mm range salvaged from scrap bikes I can try out. Therefore I want to get at least 1 grip off the bars, in order to remove the fittings and slide the bar out of the stem clamp. The grips are nice quality, so I want to re-use them. The obvious method to me is to slide a long thin screwdriver between grip and bars to open up a gap, and dribble some liquid soap into the gap and hopefully then twist it off. Has anyone got any little tricks of the trade you use to remove rubber grips from flat bars without wrecking them? .This must be a pretty common job, and I can't believe that people just get the Stanley knife out and cut them, and replace with new!
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