I am a relatively short person (5'5"). But I have long legs. My inseam is 32 inches. So I had to raise the seat quite high to accommodate for it. But then the handle bar became quite low. So I had to put a stem raise to bring it up to level. Now I am concerned about the safety aspect of it. The roads here are terrible. Big and deep potholes, broken sections, sections with loose gravel/sand etc. The minimum insertion length on the seat post is still fulfilled. That is line still inside the seat tube. The stem raiser I got it from a local store for 300 Bangladeshi Taka (about 2.50 USD). It is aluminum. The headset even without the raiser has the tendency to work itself loose every few days. Not sure if that is normal.
Is it safe to ride it in this setup?
PS: I did not really need an MTB for my case. I only do like 20 km max and that too only a few days a month. I initially went to the shop to buy a classic roadster style cycle. Those come in 28 inch wheel and 22 inch seat tube frame size which work well for me. But I got up sold on the cooler looking MTB so I have been kinda stuck with this one.
by Hanzala19
4 Comments
First up, anything working itself loose is not normal. Be careful with that.
Imma say that this frame is too small for you. You can make most frames fit somehow, as you’ve done, but it’s going to be a compromise. Many people use long fork steerers and a stack of spacers to bring a handlebar up, but this is more reliable than using an extender which obviously introduces more mechanical joints which are going to be weak points. I personally would not trust the setup you have.
A larger frame with less seat post showing and higher front end is going to be far better all round.
If you can return it, think about it. I dont know how much I am influenced by the photo being from a weird angle but the whole geometry is pretty suspicious.
As long as the seat post is not out past it’s minimum insertion point ( will be marked with a dotted line and minimum insertion or similar ) you are good there. If it is past minimum insertion you can buy longer seat posts fairly cheaply just make sure you get the right size which will be marked on it somewhere below the minimum insertion line.
The handlebars however are really bad, shonky and dangerous would be an improvement. The only people who say those steerer extensions are safe are the people who make money from selling you them remove it as soon as you can. If you need a higher bar position you can achieve it with a longer higher rise stem and high rise bar without compromising safety.
Even with a high rise bar/stem combination the bar will still be lower than the saddle this is normal if you want a sit up and bag position as its commonly called you need a different bike more along the lines of a traditional commuter but give this bike safely set up a go people have been riding with bars lower than saddle for many years and there is nothing wrong with it as long as you pay attention to where you are but you need to do that anyway.
The headset won’t work loose if it is correctly set up. Look on YouTube there are countless videos showing you how to do this but you must get rid of the extender.
Would it be possible to return the bike? You’ve bought something that doesn’t fit you.
If not, the stem raiser does indeed look horrible and is likely unsafe. A mtb should have some amount of saddle to bar drop, if the bars are feeling uncomfortably low you could get a steep angled stem and max number of spacers to raise it properly.