Road Bike Spacers Above Stem
Lefty loosey and righty tighty.
Road bike spacers above stem. The more and more serious you become about the sport which has to include working on your core strength then yes you can lower your stem. I leave 5 mm minimum and a 10 mm more often. All bolts in the stem are standard threaded i e. For threadless headsets steerer tubes more than likely the kind you have simply loosen the pinch bolts that attach the stem to the steerer using an appropriate allen key as well as the bolt in the centre of the top cap which tensions the star fangled nut sfn.
That said i rode the bike before this last one with 20 mm worth of spacers above the stem. Generally most bikes have 20 to 30mm of headset spacers that can be moved freely above or below the stem. If you cannot add spacers underneath the stem to effect the correct bar height you have to get a stem with a steeper rise. Supposing you just wanted a comfortable road bike.
Replacing or adjusting headset spacers is a relatively easy job. A little more like 10 mm if preserving some resale value of the bike is a concern for you this. Just to put the stem down because that s the way some 20 year old italian racer has it doesn t work. On street parking creates hazards for drivers and cyclists.
Same goes if you ride. Eg specialized s carbon steerer tubes expander plugs are designed to be compatible with no spacers above stem. Sanzhi bike stem 25 4 31 8 110mm 0 60 degree adjustable mtb riser stem short handlebar stem mountain bike stem for bicycle mtb road bike cycling bmx by sanzhi 19 99 19. But if you are heavy ride with a long stem and your handlebar is far below the height of your saddle you should be cautious about using more than say 25 30mm of spacers.
Replacing or adjusting headset spacers. Can someone identify this vintage bike. Spacers above stem depends on the manufacturer s design. Bianchi are stating no more than 5mm of spacers should be above a stem.
The plug assembly resists crushing at the top of the stem. For carbon steerers manufacturers reccomend not exceeding 40mm of spacers underneath the stem. The bike fit needs to look like the rider. It says to not use spacers above the stem because this means the lower stem bolt will exert pressure on part of the steerer that isn t supported by the fork bung.