What to adjust after raising handlebar height?

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm thinking of getting one of these next.
You can adjust the backrest up and down.


View attachment 156459

Buy a motorcycle.

 

[PCeBiker]

Buy a motorcycle.

I didn't want to spend at least 3 times as much for a motorcycle or bother with insurance, licensing, gas, maintenance, etc.

I can go places motorcycles can't get to or aren't allowed to be, and I'm sure I'd get a ticket riding a 🏍 no- .
I'm just riding a .


The only advantage of a motorcycle is that it goes faster, but I don't care for speed.
I find 22 kph my perfect speed for comfort, control and battery range.
If the wind is at my back, I'll go my maximum 34 kph.

I like trying to get my butt to go as far and last as long as my battery.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Throttle only, yes?

 

[PedalUma]

 

[PCeBiker]

Throttle only, yes?

Yup.
I can pedal if I want to but I choose not to. Mostly cuz I'm lazy.

It's illegal to remove my pedals, so I left them on. Lol

 

[PCeBiker]

View attachment 156478View attachment 156479View attachment 156480

That's more like it, but you can't steer going no- with more than two wheels on the ground.

I can add training wheels or a sidecar and steer with my feet when I get that old.

Anything is possible. If a little girl can do it so can I,..

And the one wheel approach,..

(I don't think that I'll be trying that one though? )

 

[PedalUma]

You can still keep the pedals.

 

[PCeBiker]

You can still keep the pedals.

Yeah, but I don't want to pedal.

I watched both videos and all of that should be able to done on an electric bicycle.
Foot pegs are more stable and pedals and cranks aren't necessary for going downhill.

Lea Schaepe impressed me more but she staged her wipeout, and jumped off the handlebars for the other mistake.

She's learning how to fly.
But she ain't got wings,..

That's why I like to keep my speed around 20 kph.
I should be able to land more safely without hitting my head.

 

[Kayakguy]

Thanks. I will definitely keep this advice in mind. But again, so far, my experience has been the opposite: raising the handlebars even by a relatively small amount has noticeably decreased the particular back pain I was experiencing on this bike. In my case, I have chronic sciatic pain on my lower left back, which at least for me is exacerbated by leaning forward on the bike much more than from compression due to being slightly more upright. (Which seems counter-intuitive because, off the bike, stretching relieves it whereas sitting in a chair exacerbates it. But I’m not a doctor or physical therapist, so I don’t know the anatomy of it. All I know is that I’ve had far less of that issue with the handlebars raised slightly, at least so far; and that I don’t have it at all on my other Dutch-style bike where I sit completely upright.)

(Time may end up proving me wrong, of course; so I’m definitely keeping an open mind about changing everything back.)

Your comment re physical therapist makes me wonder whether such a person could help a rider achieve optimum comfort. Might be an interesting area for a PT to specialize in. I'm not aware of anyone who does this, at least not around here (Bellingham).

 

[PedalUma]

Clinical Bike Fits - CorePhysio - Bellingham, WA

Clinical Bike Fits - CorePhysio - conveniently located for Bellingham call (360) 752-2673

corephysiopt.com

Bike Fit - Whatcom Community Physical Therapy | Bellingham, WA

We work with individuals ranging from age 8-100 and treat an array of nueromusculoskeletal (nerve, muscle, bone and joint) conditions.

www.wc-pt.com

 

[Kayakguy]

Clinical Bike Fits - CorePhysio - Bellingham, WA

Clinical Bike Fits - CorePhysio - conveniently located for Bellingham call (360) 752-2673

corephysiopt.com

Bike Fit - Whatcom Community Physical Therapy | Bellingham, WA

We work with individuals ranging from age 8-100 and treat an array of nueromusculoskeletal (nerve, muscle, bone and joint) conditions.

www.wc-pt.com

Wow. Thanks, I didn't even know these guys existed. Not sure whether I need them though. Well, maybe. Not yet.

 

[Nvreloader]

Hi all,

I recently had the handlebars raised on my bike in order to have a somewhat more upright riding position (the bike is a Vintage Electric Cafe, if that matters). That’s working great in and of itself; but I noticed on my first ride with the new handlebar height that my position on the seat (a Brooks B17) doesn’t feel quite as comfortable anymore. It’s not terrible, but not as comfortable as it was previously. I assume that’s due to the change in my seating position on the bike, either in itself or because my “sit bones” are now in a somewhat different position on the saddle and/or I have more weight on the seat and less on my arms because I’m somewhat more upright. (To be clear: I’m not fully upright like I am when riding my Dutch style bike, just somewhat more upright than before.)

I’m wondering what variables are most directly affected by handlebar height/what I should try adjusting. I don’t want to start just randomly adjusting things, because then I’d end up conflating too many variables. Could it be that I need to adjust the seat tilt a bit to compensate for the more upright position? (Right now, I have the seat noticeably tilted upwards a bit because that’s how it was most comfortable before.) Adjust the fore/aft position of the seat? (I wouldn’t think that that would be the most likely thing to be affected by the handlebar height, but I don’t really know.). Or could it be that the seat just needs to be broken in again to account for the new seating position?

For what it’s worth, I do already have a suspension seatpost.

Any thoughts appreciated!

Chibbie
You might want to look at something like this,

Amazon.com

I use one almost the same, I tried it so the adjustments were towards the front, but could not get the upright angle I needed.
So I turned the adjustment angle towards me, and left the handle bars slightly loose for adjustments and got the perfect upright sitting I needed, and brought the handlebar end back towards me a little at a time, until everything was perfect for the bars end angle, then locked down all connection points.
By turning the stem locking screws back towards me, I also gained about 2" more of back sweep of the handle bars, and I could also raise the handle bar higher if needed.
HTH's

 

[Chibbie]

Thanks. We can close this thread; I no longer have the bike in question.

 

[Nvreloader]

Well what did you get?