Seths Pool Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 hey everyone, I'm dealing with a shifter & top tube clearance issue on one of my bikes, and would like to see what is the lowest rise I can get away with and have the shifter clear my top tube. does anyone have any 25-40mm rise bars I can check out? 31.8 or 35mm clamps are fine as I have stems for both. as a matter of fact, I have already solved this issue on Saturday by buying some spank 50mm rise bars from Bike Farm, but they are red and I think the dramatic rise/bend in the bars for that much (50mm) rise is rather ugly so I'm continuing to explore options so if you have some extra bars laying around, or even have some bars I could temporarily bolt on to test the clearance, please let me know! thanks, Seth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSarge Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 If I'm ever riding along and I look down and say "Hmm, my shifter doesn't clear the top tube" - I would say I've got MUCH bigger things to be worried about at that moment. But then, I'm less concerned with tricky and more concerned with stay-uppy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) I like the experimental attititude, but can you achieve the same effect with a little more stem rise? I would want to set up my bike so the grip position is optimal for riding. If that means something hits the top tube, I'd rather that than putting my handlebar too far away from my feet. The other option is to keep your handlebar controls bolted on just loose enough that they will give in the event of a crash. Are rotation-limiting headsets a thing that mtbers use? I've seen them on touring bikes. Edited January 28, 2019 by mack_turtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throet Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 4 hours ago, Seths Pool said: hey everyone, I'm dealing with a shifter & top tube clearance issue on one of my bikes, and would like to see what is the lowest rise I can get away with and have the shifter clear my top tube. does anyone have any 25-40mm rise bars I can check out? 31.8 or 35mm clamps are fine as I have stems for both. as a matter of fact, I have already solved this issue on Saturday by buying some spank 50mm rise bars from Bike Farm, but they are red and I think the dramatic rise/bend in the bars for that much (50mm) rise is rather ugly so I'm continuing to explore options so if you have some extra bars laying around, or even have some bars I could temporarily bolt on to test the clearance, please let me know! thanks, Seth Carbon OK? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seths Pool Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 3 hours ago, TheSarge said: If I'm ever riding along and I look down and say "Hmm, my shifter doesn't clear the top tube" - I would say I've got MUCH bigger things to be worried about at that moment. But then, I'm less concerned with tricky and more concerned with stay-uppy. 11 minutes ago, mack_turtle said: I like the experimental attititude, but can you achieve the same effect with a little more stem rise? I would want to set up my bike so the grip position is optimal for riding. If that means something hits the top tube, I'd rather that than putting my handlebar too far away from my feet. The other option is to keep your handlebar controls bolted on just loose enough that they will give in the event of a crash. Are rotation-limiting headsets a thing that mtbers use? I've seen them on touring bikes. I was going to give a super short explanation to Sarge, but after your post followed, I will elaborate and break down the ongoing dilemma ive dealt with a frame (gonna just leave names out here) that I got about 6 months ago - still hasnt been ridden and let me tell you why - Here is my build experience backstory - im trying to summarize this novel as good as I can, but bear with me and read through it to understand where im at - my problems all started with my fork steer tube length. I had a great 2018 rock Shox lyrik dual position 160/130 fork with a 7.5” steer tube ,which is long enough for virtually every other bike in the world. Not long enough for this new frame. In an attempt to save money, I found a pretty good friend of mine with another lyrik fork with an 8” steer tube, she agrees to trade me, I ship my fork all the way to Utah for us to trade and long story short she backs out at the last minute and sends me my fork back.. this was around thanksgiving so it took about 2 weeks to get my original fork back from the day that I originally sent it out. ….Time and money….. Bummer, but ok, i think to myself "let me just fork out the money and buy and entirely new CSU with an uncut steer tube". I pay about $300 to 365 cycles to gain about 1-2” of steer tube, and they shipped me a non-boost CSU, the wrong one, and told me a boost-CSU is almost $400… strike 2 on fixing the fork issue... more time and money wasted, again, so I completely abandon the new CSU idea since I see that I can get an entire fork (used) for the same price as a new CSU all by itself. So I buy a basically brand new 2019 Pike (with an 8” steer tube) from a guy I know in the community, and also bought the 160mm air shaft to convert it for this build.. Another $400 spent while waiting on my refund for the wrong CSU I had been sent from 365 cycles…. So I get this new fork with the 8” steer tube, its fits through the frame, my stem clamps on it, im super happy, and now im ready to move on with the build! Lets pause on the fork I will come back to it Next step in the build - install my brand spanking new race face SIXC cranks that ive been saving in the box for this build, right? Nope. This frame requires an extra wide spindle even though is doesn’t have a DH width BB shell?… at this point im like whatever, whats another $80 and a week for shipping? I spend the money, order the spindle, it finally gets delivered and installed… At this point im super happy that my build is finally finally almost done. Right? Lets go back to the replacement fork I finally got with the 8” steer tube now - So after installing the cockpit and brakes and shifter and all that, im noticing that my shifter is hitting my top tube when I spin my bars. Not that im doing a bunch of x-ups or bar spins or anything, but in the event that I ever crash or something and my bars get twisted up, its going to not only put scratches and marks on the top tube, but it will possibly destroy my shifter also. This was happening with a deity 35mm length/0 rise stem that had a relatively normal clamp/stack height comparable to other stems - I had room for like one or two 3mm spacers between the headset and bottom of the stem. Pretty close to being slammed as low as it could sit. So I think to myself, ok, let me try a funnduro 45mm/0 rise stem I have (which has a super short clamp/stack height which is why ive liked this stem for a long time to deal with limited steer tube length) that way I can stack spacers underneath it to raise up the bars/shifter for more clearance, and with the longer stem - it will also position the shifter above a farther down section of the top tube which should also give me more clearance. Right? So now I have a fork with an 8” steer tube, and a stem with a really short stack height, sitting up as high as it can possibly go on as many spacers (Probably 10-15mm of spacers, I will measure when I get home) as I can fit underneath the stem and guess what? The damn shifter is STILL hitting the F*&king top tube! I even tried to use a bar clamp to mount the shifter instead of the sram match maker with zero success. the head tube is abnormally long (which the engineers may have a reason behind it) but even beyond the length of the head tube, the frame top tube is designed in a way that FORCES you to stack shit load of spacers under the stem or have clearance problems like I am having.. One of the longest head tubes in the industry, 29” wheels, a 140-160mm fork, 15-40mm handlebar rise, and now 20+ mm of mandatory spacers? How tall is this front end supposed to be? I feel like by the time I get the bike running properly im gonna be riding a chopper mountain bike with ape hangers with my arms straight up in the air. I mean, make your head tubes as long as you want, but I think you should design the frame’s top tube to slope down enough to not force the customer to stack an additional 20mm+ of spacers on top of an already giant head tube just to clear basic cockpit controls.. so fast forward to now- I've finally fixed the top tube clearance issues, but in a less-than-optimal way. I would be open to a stem with rise instead of adding rise to the handlebars, but I need a stem 50mm or shorter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I would get that handlebar position within 10mm of what is ideal for you. If the head tube is too long and the top tube too tall, I would deal with the possibility of hitting the top tube e or get a new frame. Sucks, but handling and fit are my priority. I have my handlebar quite low and I made a slight compromise with bar rotation and lever angle so the lever does not hit the top tube. It's close. I feel your pain but don't "chopper" your bike over this. Seriously, why does no one use a limiting headset? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBaron Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 What about some kind of frame top tube protector/padding? https://bagaboo-bags.com/product/top-tube-protector-large/ -CJB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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