I’ve just built up a Solaris and am experimenting with bar heights

I have a zero rise stem and flat bars

I’m trying to keep the front endreasonably low – with one 10mm spacer under the stem the brakes just clear the TT, but the gear shifter hits the top tube when the bars are spun right round

This is my first 29er – I’ve never had this before

I’m assuming this is a common problem these days – as I’m seeing lots of flat bars, zero or negative rise stems etc

My instinct is to put the bars where I want them, put some helitape on the TT to protect it and hope for the best.

Anyone else?

I have this on my Cotic Soda – zero rise stem with low rise bars
I angle the brakes and shifters up a tad more then ideal so that the shifters don’t do any damage if they hit the top tube.

Helitape wont stop a dent

Levers hit the top tube on my Inbred.

no, I use gripshift.

No, I have a bike that fits

No, I have a bike that fits with different geometry

yes,

just don’t do the clamps tight so when the levers do hit the top tube they move rather than dent the tube

No, I have a bike that fits

no you have a bike that looks like a shopper.

I think this is becoming a more likely senario. My friends Banshee Rune had this issue with a lowrise bar and zero degree stem.

yes brake levers on all my bkes hit top tube apart from the bmx

I use this as a general measure that I’ve got the bars/brake’s setup OK.

if the brake levers scrape the top tube, it’ll not be far off.

😉

Yup mine clout the top tube too. Doesnt bother me though, just accept it.

hilldodger – Member

No, I have a bike that fits

If anything it shows the bike fits, if there’s clerance then you must be using spacers or a riser stem to compensate for a short headtube.

all my moutain bikes I have ever owned have done this. They’ve all been 100mm travel bikes though.

All my hardtails have done this. On the full susses, the top tube being dropped means that it doesn’t happen.

Yes – as per OP, brakes clear, but the shifter hits. Have fitted 3 wraps of helitape, in the vague hope that they’ll prevent a dent. 😕

Its all old knackered shifty stuff, so thinking about a change to gripshift when I make the techno-leap to 10sp.

you are planning a techno-leap to gripshift?
ive seen some lovely purple anodised bling recently too

Thanks everyone – I feel better now

Levers are always run as loose as possible anyway

Hilldodger – the bike fits perfectly. I’m just playing with bar height to see what works best for me. I’ve not ridden the bike at this height yet so the bars could go back up. I just want to keep my options open

The shifters just to say touch on my NomadC. I’ve just cable tied a couple of wraps of innertube around the top tube in that location, it’s not pretty but it provides a bit of protection.

I could be solved with a small spacer, but the steerer isn’t long enough in my case.

If the bars are the same height as the saddle I’ve never had this problem, but if I want to get the front a bit lower it does become an issue. The handling never seems as good to me with lower bars either, so it rarely lasts long in that configuration. But while it does I just go with the lose clamping option and hope for the best.

you are planning a techno-leap to gripshift?
ive seen some lovely purple anodised bling recently too

Yes – works on Grifters so should be fine 😉

Purple stuff? Got some bits from the first time around. Its a bit like clothes. I stopped evolving with fashion years ago, and every now and then I’m inadvertently trendy again. (Purple bits are trendy…aren’t they?)

Doesn’t happen on any of mine- very very close on the ragley though

thisisnotaspoon – Member

If anything it shows the bike fits, if there’s clerance then you must be using spacers or a riser stem to compensate for a short headtube.

Or the frame has a lot of drop on the top tube- you’d have to fit some crazy parts to get the controls to hit the top tube on some of my bikes. Maybe a 50mm riser, mounted upside down, or something.

I always get this on commuter bikes.

I never have my bars that low on my mountain bikes… they’re not 29ers though.

Fair point, although I tkink all my bikes do, even the Pitch which is both a size small on me, and has a masively dropped top tube.

I do run the bars on my bikes as low as they’ll go on most bikes, I’d go lower but I don’t think the Emily Batty look would work so well on a Pitch (and would probably rip the headtube off in a crash if the stem was levering agaisnt the frame with some 780mm bars).

I have a little scratch line where the tips of the levers cross the top tube on my hardtail. It’s no big deal though, the bike’s not x-up friendly since I fitted some wider bars anyway.

I have this problem on my sb95. I angle shifter and brakes a little higher, and a 5mm spacer. I prefer the ride with lower bars, but I worry that a silly little crash will dent my frame.