Opinions please

[Bear]

After weeks of trying & riding many bikes, the best of the bunch is a Giant escape ... but my problem is, the medium is defo too small, and although the large is good, it feels too tall over the stem area ... i'm sure the headtube length is not the problem, its the stem.

Is it easy to reduce one of the small spacers ... & obviously the fork tube will have to be cut ?

I've exhausted all local shops now looking for the perfect 'off the peg' bike (which i'm sure, is not there ?), and i have to draw a line now.

Is it normal practice now to alter a new bike to suit, or am i being too picky ?

Anyone else have problems sizing / buying ? I know its a very personal thing, and it varies greatly from brand to brand.

 

[Radius]

You can just put the spacers you take out above the stem rather than below it, if you're worried about cutting the steerer down. Lots of pro riders have specific spacer sizes / no spacers / lots of spacers etc etc so it's not unusual, no-one's the same. I'd do what you're suggesting but you don't have to cut the steerer (although the fashion police might have something to say...)

 

[Brains]

I'd suggest you go to a good quality bike shop that has a jig.

'Ride' the jig and they will tell you exactly what size you require. Then look for a bike to fit (.... or get a frame custom built)

 

[Piemaster]

I've got an escape. I've fitted mine with butterfly bars (yeah, yeah, I know...) rotating them in the stem can alter the height quite a bit.
Before cutting anything can you alter the height by rotating the bars a bit? think they have a slight rise.
Or try flipping the stem over as looking at mine it's got around a 5 degrees rise. Might give you that bit extra you're looking for.

 

[ultraviolet]

flipping the stem would be a good idear

 

[Bear]

Radius, so those spacers are there as standard exactly for that purpose ? 2 bigger & 2 thinner to give multi height positions ? Is it simple to do ?

Brains, Nothing local with a jig i'm afraid.

Piemaster, I haven't actually bought the bike yet, and i cant really picture the flipped stem ... can i ask, is your set up standard, & what size did you get ? just out interest

 

[Piemaster]

I've got a large frame. M0 version. I'm 6' 2"
I've changed the bars to butterflys on the standard stem and fitted spd pedals.
I like having more hand positions than with the standard bars and I get a shoulder problem if I stay in the same position for long

 

[spandex]

Bear I am with Radius on this one as that is what I was going to say + you can ask the bike shop to do it for you as it will take 1.1/2 mins to do. Then you can test ride it to see.

 

[summerdays]

Piemaster - have you a pic of your bike with the butterfly bars fitted ... I'm still thinking about doing this. Every now and again I see a lady near my kids school with the bars fitted ...I'd love to ask her if I could have a try. Usually I'm still on my way to school though running late (like this morning).

Bear I have a medium frame M0 and I'm 5'6"

 

[Bear]

spandex, i dont think they would be into doing that too be honest, but i will ask.

Piemaster, because i'm only 6', its borderline for me ... every other medium seems far too small.

 

[punkypossum]

Swapping the spacers is easy - even I can do it and anything mechanical freaks me out, unscrew, take spacers off, swap to desired position, rescrew... Ride. If you like it, you can cut the steerer so you don't have an odd spacer stack on top of the stem. If you are not too fussed about that, just leave it - if you ever want to sell the bike, the next person might want the bars back to the original height.

 

[Bear]

My local has come up trumps ... he swapped the stem for a shorter one, & lost one of the spacers ... its on a different model, but he was keen to show me how easy it was ... and yes i could have done that !

Just goes to show, if you get the right person its all good !