In addition to the safety factor, I think the twisting bars might have something to do with your upper body discomfort. Everytime you get on the bike, your body alignment will be off, but not consistently. It seems easy to get a 1" difference in reach, left vs right, with just a small change in bar-twist.
My shoulders tense up just at the idea of the bars twisting a little after every jolt. You might feel the shift unconsciously and stiffen up to try to prevent it. Or not. Philip Philip Williamson www.biketinker.com On May 22, 8:56 am, CycloFiend <[email protected]> wrote: > on 5/21/11 11:48 PM, Zaelia at [email protected] wrote: > > > I guess the more correct way to say this is that the stem is out of > > alignment, so that when you look down at the front of the bike the > > handlebars are not running parallel to the front hub. At least this is what > > I read in my Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repairs. He noted that they were not > > straight, and I told him this was a recurring problem that had been looked > > at and fixed by a number of mechanics. I sarcastically said that you just > > had to look at the handlebars sideways and they went out of alignment. He > > fixed the alignment, tightened the bolt and then tried to move the bars out > > of alignment with his hands. It was easy to do. He then tightened the bolt, > > really wrenching on it and the bars still moved. He speculated that the stem > > and steering column were not able to bind and had perhaps worn out where > > they needed to bind (that's the best I can describe what he said, though I'm > > finding it hard to find the right words), and said the only way to have the > > handlebars aligned and bound was to raise the stem. > > Let me get this straight: the mechanic was not able to torque your stem so > your handlebars stay in place? And he let you and your bicycle out of the > shop? > > There's a few ways this can happen - bulging, ovalization, improperly sized > wedge/expander, failing bolt, splitting fork steerer - none of which are > particularly "safe" failures. > > Someone needs to pull the stem, drop the fork and figure out what is going > on. The steerer/stem connection is critical. It doesn't sound like > something which should be ignored. > > Now - with a quill stem, there will be some slippage under hard impact. The > bars can twist after a crash, for example. But, if you are able to reset the > angle, and if it is a constant issue to keep them straight, something is > wrong. > > - J > > -- > Jim Edgar > [email protected] > > Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries -http://www.cyclofiend.com > Current Classics - Cross Bikes > Singlespeed - Working Bikes > > Your Photos are needed! - Send them here -http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines > > "I threw one leg over my battle-scarred all-terrain stump-jumper and rode > several miles to work. I'd sprayed it with some cheap gold paint so it > wouldn't look nice. Locked my bike to a radiator, because you never knew, > and went in." > -- Neal Stephenson, "Zodiac" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
