Local Bike Shop: Nottingham

[Camping Cathy]

I want some fairly simple work carried out on my ebike: New stem and handlebar adjustments.
Is this the sort of thing that any local bike shop can do, or do I need a specialist who can work on ebikes?
Any recommendations for a bike shop on Nottingham?
Thanks

 

[Nealh]

Any good LBS can do the work or look locally to see if there is a community bike workshop.
In honesty it is also a a pretty simple job for a non savvy bike owner to carry out with a few Allen keys.

 

[Camping Cathy]

Any good LBS can do the work or look locally to see if there is a community bike workshop.
In honesty it is also a a pretty simple job for a non savvy bike owner to carry out with a few Allen keys.

Thanks.

There are a couple of great community bike initiatives nearby. I was very impressed with them when I was riding a non electric bike and I did one of their basic bike maintenance courses. I will contact them first to see what they say.

I feel fairly confident I could do the job (I've spent a while looking on you tube). What I'm not so confident about is knowing what to buy to achieve a more comfortable riding position

 

[Nealh]

Show us what you currently have via pic and tell us the issues you have and want to achieve.
With my latest scratch build of the Cotic Roadrat I used a Small frame so the reach was too upright for me, for comfort I only fit swept bars with GP grips and to compensate fitted a 140mm stem.

 

[Camping Cathy]

Show us what you currently have via pic and tell us the issues you have and want to achieve.
With my latest scratch build of the Cotic Roadrat I used a Small frame so the reach was too upright for me, for comfort I only fit swept bars with GP grips and to compensate fitted a 140mm stem.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll upload some pictures tomorrow and give some info about what's uncomfortable and what I want to achieve

 

[Camping Cathy]

Ok, I’ll try and briefly explain….

I have arthritis in my hands, knees and hips. I have had to give up riding my beloved trek hybrid as
1. I couldn’t lift my leg high enough and
2. Everything hurt when I rode.

After much research I bought an Islabikes ejanis.
It's a step- through and so far has been a vast improvement. I’ve rediscovered my love of cycling, and am delighted that, because it is so light, I can easily ride without power. But it’s great to have power there for longer distances/ hills. So for me, the best of both worlds.

Now the only thing that could be improved is, I think the riding position. I wonder if an adjustment to the handlebars might be the answer. I think the handlebars are too low/ I am leaning too far forward and putting too much weight on them. This results in pain in the heels of my hands and to a lesser extent in my fingers (though far less than on my trek).

Islabikes have been helpful in detailing the current set up:

“The stem fitted to our eJanis Medium is an Aluminium 80mm stem for a 1 and 1 1/8 steerer, 31.8 handlebar clamp with a 17-degree rise”

I've had a look, and there are no adjustments that I can make to the current handlebars as far as I can see. ie no adjustment to the spacers

(As an aside Islabikes have been great throughout the whole of the research and buying process.)

So if you have any ideas or suggestions I would be extremely delighted and grateful

Hopefully some photos…

 

[matthewslack]

Ok, I’ll try and briefly explain….

I have arthritis in my hands, knees and hips. I have had to give up riding my beloved trek hybrid as
1. I couldn’t lift my leg high enough and
2. Everything hurt when I rode.

After much research I bought an Islabikes ejanis.
It's a step- through and so far has been a vast improvement. I’ve rediscovered my love of cycling, and am delighted that, because it is so light, I can easily ride without power. But it’s great to have power there for longer distances/ hills. So for me, the best of both worlds.

Now the only thing that could be improved is, I think the riding position. I wonder if an adjustment to the handlebars might be the answer. I think the handlebars are too low/ I am leaning too far forward and putting too much weight on them. This results in pain in the heels of my hands and to a lesser extent in my fingers (though far less than on my trek).

Islabikes have been helpful in detailing the current set up:

“The stem fitted to our eJanis Medium is an Aluminium 80mm stem for a 1 and 1 1/8 steerer, 31.8 handlebar clamp with a 17-degree rise”

I've had a look, and there are no adjustments that I can make to the current handlebars as far as I can see. ie no adjustment to the spacers

(As an aside Islabikes have been great throughout the whole of the research and buying process.)

So if you have any ideas or suggestions I would be extremely delighted and grateful

Hopefully some photos…
View attachment 45458
View attachment 45459

Have a look into riser bars. The ends are higher than the central clamp area, so you get higher hands. Moderate ones tend to go up to 40mm, but higher are available.

Also swept back ends can be much better for your wrists. Just look around for images, for something that makes sense, and go from there.

I need much the same to reduce load on my shoulder joints. Haven't chosen yet.

 

[Nealh]

Straight bars are awful and give no shock or comfort form solid forks.
Think about some swept back bars as they will reduce the leaning forward, the 40 odd degree sweep takes the vibes out from solid forks with decent grips. In a resting position 40 degrees is a good wrist angle so is a more natural hand position the straight bars.
These On-one Mikes will be good and your current grips etc will fit. If one needs higher bars then a stem riser may be needed, one can then play with stem reach/length to suit ones stance.

 

[Nealh]

Looking at your bike stem, it looks like there is a spacer above the handle bar stem.
One should be able to raise the bars another 15mm - 20mm.

 

[Benjahmin]

I had straight bars and got a lot of wrist pain and neck pain from shock transfer.
I fitted On One Mary bars, baxk swept and very slightly higher. Did the trick.

On-One Mary Handlebar | Planet X Bikes

A bit extraordinary but fully practical and really comfortable! Give the Mary bars a go and find out yourself. Width: 645mm Back Sweep: 31.8mm Bar = 85mm Grip area: 169mm Rise: 37.5mm Meet Mary... Our classic alt-bar. We like to think of it as an extreme sweep riser bar. It's a bit odd, but...

www.planetx.co.uk

 

[sjpt]

I certainly agree with swept back bars. It can be overdone though, for me 30 degrees would be better than 40.

I bought these because they had significant rise as well as being swept back, but I find the backsweep too much. Both less comfortable than a smaller backsweep, and can be slight awkward in tight turns as well. They haven't been bad enough to go through the hassle of replacement. The specs don't say exactly what the backsweep angle is.
XLC Comp City-/Comfort Lenker HB-C13

The best sweep will vary a bit depending on riding style, and more importantly a lot from person to person. The stock bars on our Raleigh Motus are just right backsweep for me.

The handlebar rise on mine adds to the rise I got from a step spacer on the front of our Viking tandem; between them I've got the bars very nearly as high as I'd ideally want.

 

[Nealh]

These are the On-one's I mentioned, I though I had posted the link above in #8 but not so.
On-One Mike Handlebar | Planet X

 

[Camping Cathy]

Wow, thank you all for you advice and suggestions.

Nealh was absolutely correct. There is indeed another spacer on the stem. I don't know how I missed it, but I did! So I have addressed that.

I spent last night looking at info about "bike fit". I will now do some of the suggested tweaks (pay more attention to saddle height, move my saddle back a bit, check the tilt)

I'll do a few more rides testing out those adjustments. What a great excuse to get out whilst my other half finishes the decorating!

If those tweaks are not sufficient, I've now got some great ideas for the next step which will be to look at your suggestions about swept back bars.

I do like an upright riding position now (my days of drop handlebars are long gone). I like the look of the On Ones, and as I'm pleased with the grips it's a bonus that they will fit.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

[Nealh]

The On-ones have the same 31.8mm central dia and 22.2mm min bar dia.
I find the 40 deg sweep so comfy, one can get an idea of the ideal wrist angle by just looking at them when sitting down and resting. They tend to splay out at an angle, it isn't natural for them to be parallel with the arm direction so straight bars are an abnormal holding position for bikes.

 

[Nealh]

The only thing to watch out for with sweeps is that there is enough brake and gear cable length as this can shorten then slightly. If thinking of swapping out measure your bar set up and that all fixtures will slide on the 205mm bar end space.

 

[Camping Cathy]

I'm just back from a 12 mile ride to see if my tweaks have improved things at all:

I lowered the saddle (just a tad too much I think) and moved it backwards a little. That combined with raising the handlebars just the one spacer did make some positive difference.

I became much more aware however of my arms being locked out with no bend in the elbow.

So I reckon it has to be the new handlebars next.

I think it's touch and go with cable lengths. And I'm grateful to Nealh for the reminder to check that everything will slide onto the bar ends.

I'll need to wait now until my other half has finished the decorating so that he can double check with me if everything will fit on the On-ones.

It looks a simple enough job once we have double checked everything will fit.

I will report back in due course, just in case my experience is helpful to anyone else with similar issues

 

[passionate off roader]

I've got straight bars as well, and find that after a time my fingers go numb. Have to stop and rest them for a minute or so every now and then.

Also, the saddle is rock hard, but I've tied some foam on, which makes it a lot more comfortable.

 

[matthewslack]

I've got straight bars as well, and find that after a time my fingers go numb. Have to stop and rest them for a minute or so every now and then.

Also, the saddle is rock hard, but I've tied some foam on, which makes it a lot more comfortable.

I found a memory foam saddle cover in Lidl of all places in the summer. Best 5.99 I've ever spent on a bike.

 

[Camping Cathy]

I promised an update (in case it is of benefit to anyone else with similar problems) and here it is:

I ordered the on-one Mike bars, and they were delivered really quickly.

I decided that I didn't feel quite confident enough to tackle changing the bars myself. So I booked some training with a community bike collective.

I've just got back from a really enjoyable and informative session. Under expert tuition, I removed the bars and replaced them with the on-one mikes. They felt really comfortable, and a likely solution. However, the (hydraulic) brake cables are too short. So the on-ones came off and the original bars went back on. During that process I Iearned a lot, and now do feel plenty confident enough to replace bars myself. So although I haven't solved the problem, it was time well spent.

I'm not sure what the next step is now though. Can Hydraulic brake cables be lengthened? (or replaced?)

Or should I try something like the Ergon GP3 grips to see if they offer enough of a change of position to provide a solution?

 

[soundwave]

you can swap out the brake lines for longer ones but you would need to bleed the brakes after, same as a car.