School me on raising handle bars, not a quill stem

[javacontour]

I have a Giant Defy 2 size M and I think I need a taller handlebar stem.

I have some severe arthritis in my left shoulder and I get pain after about 10 miles of riding. I can somewhat ameliorate it by switching from the hoods to the drops. I moved the seat as far forward as I could and that helped with the numb hands and fingers, but the shoulder pain is still there on some rides.

I'm beginning to think that I may need to raise the bars a bit. But these are not your 1970's department store bikes where you just loosen the nut on the stem, raise it and then tighten things back down.

I could probably rotate the bars a bit, getting the hoods higher and closer.

I suspect I'm looking at a new stem, but I need some schoolin'

Thoughts, suggestions?

 

[JOD]

First thing to check is if there are any spacers on top of your stem? If so, put them underneath and just lift the stem. Next option is to flip the stem, depending on its rise. Last is a higher-rise stem. You can go up to about 20 degrees of rise before they start to handle funny. Something like this

One thing to keep in mind is that you may need to re-cable the front brake if you raise the bars up a bit. Should pain type stuff is complicated though. I'd start by raising the hoods up and also angling them in just a bit. That often seems to help a bit. Bar width is another factor. I'm a lot more comfortable with narrow bars. My right collarbone has been broken twice and I've also had a labrum repair on that side, so it's always a bit of a struggle to be comfortable. Narrow bars have definitely helped.

 

[javacontour]

Thanks.

I'm pretty broad shouldered, so I'm thinking more narrow isn't going to help.

The stem is pretty flat. No spacers on top of my stem if I am looking correctly, so I'll start with your suggestion of raising and angling the hoods and see where we are.

Thanks again.

 

[javacontour]

Rotating the bar up, raising the hoods gave me a better ride and only when I was down in the drops trying to keep a 25mph pace for the last 6 miles did I have any pain and or numbness.

I did 30.1 miles in under two hours yesterday. Not bad for a beginner on an entry level road bike.

I road the trip up with our coffee clatch and the first 9 miles back with them as well. We dropped off the short route riders and I happened upon another fellow YMCA member who was going at a faster clip, so we road the last 6 or so miles urging one another along.

The rest of my group pulled up a few minutes later. According to my computer, I hit a max speed of 30.6 on a relatively flat stretch.

Woot!

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: JOD
You can go up to about 20 degrees of rise before they start to handle funny. Something like this


I FULLY agree with you on this, in fact I just flipped my Ritchey WCS stem back around to the much more parallel to the ground position, due to the 'funky' handling of the higher rise.

BUT, I also just read somewhere that Ryder (Hesjedal) currently uses a very high rise stem (by the flat with the ground pro peloton standards), and it does not seem to hurt him at 65 mph down the cols, so who knows??

I want to look at his setup if they ever show him again this Tour.

 

[UG_Passat]

go back to the LBS to talk to them about getting re-fitted to address your concerns. It's hard to make suggestions without seeing the bike as well as knowing all of your body proportions.

 

[Cujet]

I use a mountain bike bar with a stem that raises it farther still. I also put spacers under the stem.

I have weirdly long arms, so that bar is quite high for me.

There are adjustable stems that work very well too.

 

[dailydriver]

Why is your saddle angled so far downward at the nose??

Is that a Litespeed/Moots/??? frame?