Adjusting Bicycle Handlebars

by Tim Brennan

Setting the correct height for your handle bars can give you a more comfortable riding position and help alleviate back pain. The steering angle of the handlebars can also be corrected so that it is aligned with the angle of the front wheel. These two tweaks can be made by undoing the allen key bolt (sometimes this is a regular type of bolt) that you can see when you look down onto the stem of most normal handlebars.

If you are looking for a solution to handlebars that wobble forward when you apply the front brakes, this is covered in a separate article.

Before you start - a word of warning. I have seen some mountain bikes which have front brakes that run through the handlebar stem. If you adjust the height of these you also adjust the brakes too. They are less common these days but I thought I would mention it just in case.

If you loosen the allen key bolt (just a few anti-clockwise turns are needed), you will be able to rotate the handlebars independently to the front wheel. To adjust the height hold the front wheel steady, it probably won't slide smoothly so twist the handlebars back and forth whilst applying pressure in the vertical direction. You should notice that the handle bars will start to edge up or down.

Make sure you don't make the handle bars too high or the stem will come out completely. There should be a maximum height mark engraved on the stem that will appear when the stem is fully out.

Once you are happy with the height and angle of the handlebars, turn the allen key bolt clockwise and do it up fairly tight to be safe.