There is probably an obvious answer to the . . . .but

[rebelpeter]

Can anyone tell me why road bikes do not have any adjustment for heighth all my
older racers have the usual centre allen key so you can adjust the handlebar
heighth, but my Trek and apparently all new type racers you can't adjust the
handlebar height, yes the saddle stem has miles of adjustment.s

I can't see why they stopped handlebar adjustments on modern road bikes,
yet mountain bikes have the usual adjustment for it so hope spmeone can
solve this for me . . . Mmmmmmmm.

 

[screenman]

You can adjust unless of course it has been chopped, my MTB has the same setup as my road bikes. You can still by adjustable stems that will give you the lift you may be after.

 

[raindog]

Modern bikes have spacers that allow you to raise or lower the stem.

EDIT
bloody hell, we all posted at the same time there

 

[raleighnut]

Can anyone tell me why road bikes do not have any adjustment for heighth all my
older racers have the usual centre allen key so you can adjust the handlebar
heighth, but my Trek and apparently all new type racers you can't adjust the
handlebar height, yes the saddle stem has miles of adjustment.s

I can't see why they stopped handlebar adjustments on modern road bikes,
yet mountain bikes have the usual adjustment for it so hope spmeone can
solve this for me . . . Mmmmmmmm.

There are a wide range of stems on sale but its hard to guess which one will do what you want to achieve without trial and error I would personally avoid adjustable ones like the plague as they always seem wobbly to me but I do tend to pull on the bars when out of the saddle on a climb, most unsettling!
Anyhoow good luck getting your bike set up to your preference.

 

[rebelpeter]

There are a wide range of stems on sale but its hard to guess which one will do what you want to achieve without trial and error I would personally avoid adjustable ones like the plague as they always seem wobbly to me but I do tend to pull on the bars when out of the saddle on a climb, most unsettling!
Anyhoow good luck getting your bike set up to your preference.

Hello i just wondered why they are not adjustable i dont want to add an extention though

 

[rebelpeter]

Modern bikes have spacers that allow you to raise or lower the stem.

EDIT
bloody hell, we all posted at the same time there

Ere i must be missing something my one has like 2 allen keys but the stems just level with these, how do you lift the bars to raise then with such a short visible stem.?????

 

[rebelpeter]

You can move the stem above or below the spacers and/or flip the stem.

Oh dear ill have to see how they do it in a bike shop as cant seem to do this myself . . . .???

 

[rebelpeter]

You can adjust unless of course it has been chopped, my MTB has the same setup as my road bikes. You can still by adjustable stems that will give you the lift you may be after.

I will have a go but looks like when you loosen the two sides of the short stem by the allen keys
Cant see how the stem can raise up, ill have a try tomorrow is there a longer stem inside the short stem thats level with the allen keys, i think im confused here ill try tomorrow

Thanks

 

[BikeLiker]

I will have a go but looks like when you loosen the two sides of the short stem by the allen keys
Cant see how the stem can raise up, ill have a try tomorrow is there a longer stem inside the short stem thats level with the allen keys, i think im confused here ill try tomorrow

Thanks

It's not that difficult.

 

[Profpointy]

The new system can easiy be adjusted by removing some spacers and moving it down a bit. Moving up is a simple matter of purchasing another stem with an uplift as usually the steerer is cut down to size. Might have to get several stems till you get used to the height. This is obviously much easier than the old fashioned system where you could qdjust it willy nilly - oh, hang on... It's not better is it !

 

[Brandane]

The new system can easiy be adjusted by removing some spacers and moving it down a bit. Moving up is a simple matter of purchasing another stem with an uplift as usually the steerer is cut down to size. Might have to get several stems till you get used to the height. This is obviously much easier than the old fashioned system where you could qdjust it willy nilly - oh, hang on... It's not better is it !

The new system also looks quite ugly IMHO, if you have some of the spacers above the bars. So unless you have the bars at their highest adjustment, you have to chop the steerer tube.
Not being a bent over the bars racing snake, I go with the option of having the bars at the top of the spacers.

 

[BikeLiker]

One spacer above is OK aesthetically. A greater number is fine if you are planning on getting older and slightly less supple.

Oh dear, another faux pas Don't tell me you don't like the Golden Delicious sticker, either. I'm already older without planning it.

 

[rebelpeter]

The new system can easiy be adjusted by removing some spacers and moving it down a bit. Moving up is a simple matter of purchasing another stem with an uplift as usually the steerer is cut down to size. Might have to get several stems till you get used to the height. This is obviously much easier than the old fashioned system where you could qdjust it willy nilly - oh, hang on... It's not better is it !

no the old method was far simpler surely . . . .

 

[rebelpeter]

One spacer above is OK aesthetically. A greater number is fine if you are planning on getting older and slightly less supple.

The new system can easiy be adjusted by removing some spacers and moving it down a bit. Moving up is a simple matter of purchasing another stem with an uplift as usually the steerer is cut down to size. Might have to get several stems till you get used to the height. This is obviously much easier than the old fashioned system where you could qdjust it willy nilly - oh, hang on... It's not better is it !

Ere so its nothing to do with the 2 allen keys then just the centre bolt i tried this and pulled
the bars buut would not come up at all im doing something wrong i guess, spacers well
dont know what they are or where they live.

so do you slacken the centre bolt and tug the bars up or isnt it that simple
i have my Trek tucked up for winter so cant get to it yet but will try when
i get it out of its bed, my other racers all have the normal old centre allen key
loosen that and pull the bars uo, surely thats a better method than spacers etc
whats the advantage of these new means of adjusting handlebars.

ill have a go at it when this weather breaks and i untuck the Trek.

Thanks for your replies . . .

 

[Brandane]

Ere so its nothing to do with the 2 allen keys then just the centre bolt i tried this and pulled
the bars buut would not come up at all im doing something wrong i guess, spacers well
dont know what they are or where they live.

so do you slacken the centre bolt and tug the bars up or isnt it that simple

.

Yes, you DO need to slacken the 2 allen bolts on the stem, where it meets the steerer tube. The centre cap is only there to provide tension on the steering bearings so that the steerer tube doesn't have lateral movement while riding. Don't overtighten it or steering movement will also be affected. Always adjust centre cap before tightening the clamp (those 2 allen bolts again). The spacers will be obvious once you have the bars off. They will be on the steerer tube, either above or below (or both) the stem. See the video below!

It's not that difficult.