Straightening your handlebars by eye?

Amateurs…

https://r2-bike.com/KAS-Werkzeug-Gabelknecht-FAT?srsltid=AfmBOorFKKzG-sfkw19Og5Y_85pyWxe5kuu3gyPLHqNoxJbzLoquDOdl

Nice. But I think I’ll stick to my preferred method of spending ages tweaking them left and right whilst eyeballing them from different angles to get them perfect.

And then stopping 30 seconds into the first ride to get the allen keys out.

Eyeballing the gap between handlebar and fork crown, as opposed to the wheel, was a gamechanger for reducing my faff levels.

I’d unironically love that tool though if it was 2.5 not 250 euros!.

“Eyeballing the gap between handlebar and fork crown, as opposed to the wheel, was a gamechanger for reducing my faff levels.”

This method is very accurate if you close one eye and line up the top and down tube whilst lining up bar vs points on the fork crown. Thanks to whoever told me about this!

That’s my current method too @bens.

There have been loads of tools like that over the years and I’ve never seen one in real life.

Basically if it’s close enough that you can’t see it’s wrong then it’s fine.

It shines a laser on the tyre?  Have they not seen the wobble in some of the tyres I’ve bought over the years?  I shall stick to the chief’s (edit: I mean enigmas) method and waste my money on some other doodad

I shall stick to the chief’s (edit: I mean enigmas) method and waste my money on coke and hookers

FTFY.

Only ever after a couple of pints.

Eyeing the gap between handlebar and crown works well.

Even better is to put a straight edge across the front of the forks and line the end of the handlebars up against that. Absolutely Bob on each time and it makes so easy to get right it’s actually quicker than other methods. Use something known to be dead straight and soft enough not to scratch the stations and rest it against the stanchions themselves for max accuracy and ease.

I tend to do it by hand. Fingers have better grip than eyelids

I bet it’s fairly easy to 3D print a similar tool, and fix a laser pointer in it. Would need to be a quality pointer to make sure it’s actually accurately lined up.

I find the lines on my stem helpful for this job: https://production-privee.com/products/r2r-stem

@whatgoesup – same. Someone showed me that (using a bit of wood) a few years ago. Works 100% every time. Before then I was defo in the ‘yep close enough/get the Allen keys out 5 mins later” camp.

It’s amazing how quickly the brain adapts and you can ride with the angle being a degree or 2 out without it being noticed. Never once have I thought I need a tool for that.

I eyeball the bars against the dropouts, but I like the straight edge refinement.

I used to spend aaages trying to get it perfect, then realised that my previously broken shoulders and wonky back are miles out so now good enough is good enough.

I shall stick to the chief’s (edit: I mean enigmas) method and USE my money on coke and hookers

FTFY.

That’s some gadget . I use a bar width or longer  straightedge across the back of the stanchions to help with the eyeballing accuracy.

There’s a tool for everything, but that is a step too far lol

you can ride with the angle being a degree or 2 out without it being noticed

Very true – I noticed my commuter was out a week or so ago, then forgot, rode it 2 or 3 times before I remember to reset it. Didn’t cost me 250Euros, funnily enough.

I’m aware of a few options if you really want a tool for this. No I haven’t bought one.

https://www.superbiketool.com/en/product/detail/Frame_Fork/TB_HD05

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/this-tool-takes-the-guesswork-out-of-cockpit-setup-with-lasers.html

Review: Perfectly aligned handlebars with Tune Spurtreu

https://lalbikes.com/dagr/

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/staystraight-deluxe-bicycle-handlebar-alignment-tool.1223307/

https://www.dnrdesignsllp.com/shop

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ThingsWeCre8 (@thingswecre8)

Dual crowns and direct mount stems FTW

This is the first bit of maintenance you do as a kid. Don’t spoil it with ‘tools’.

“Review: Perfectly aligned handlebars with Tune Spurtreu”

Ha! With a stem that long it’s easy to eye it along the tyre, certainly don’t need a tool there!

whatgoesup

Even better is to put a straight edge across the front of the forks and line the end of the handlebars up against that. Absolutely Bob on each time and it makes so easy to get right it’s actually quicker than other methods. Use something known to be dead straight and soft enough not to scratch the stations and rest it against the stanchions themselves for max accuracy and ease.

Yep. I have a specific bit of wood for exactly this

As cheers drive say,your body adapts,How many of us sit perfectly on bike or are you arms exactly the same length?

But what about the tool for measuring your arms to make sure they are the same length?

Why worry? I don’t normally ride about staring at the stem. I don’t think you notice stem alignment if you don’t look.

It’s amazing how quickly the brain adapts and you can ride with the angle being a degree or 2 out without it being noticed.

This, isnt wasnt till a riding buddy pointed out that whenever I pedalled someone else’s bike I was said that bars were bent or not straight, when actually mine were bent…

I do own a much cheaper version of this tool, clips to bars, shine laser onto tyre, I find it useful as the big XL mudhugger means I can easily see the immediate tyre edge under the fork crown!

I guess for a bike shop it kind of makes sense being able to get it bang on first time with no faff.

Well, no faff except fitting it to the bars in the first place. I’m guessing most seasoned mechanics will be able to get it right without the tool in the time it takes to actually fit the tool.

My lad just knocked this up in CAD and 3d printed it.

It’s amazing how quickly the brain adapts and you can ride with the angle being a degree or 2 out without it being noticed.

2 degrees out on half a 780mm bar would be 1.3cm off perpendicular at the end. Each side in opposite directions obviously.

I get your point but I think the threshold for noticing is much smaller