Raise Kestrel bars

lasombra said:

Have just purchased a new Kestrel off the Internet....Bikesmithy..Chicago.....this is my first new bike in almost 25 years....I last purchased a new CIOCC in 1984! I need to raise the handelbars but it appears the "tube" has been cut short? Tube reaches approx. 3/4 into stem? There could be enough with only a short addition? Is this what stem shims are for? How is this done? Thank you Thank You!!!!!

No, shims are used to fit a 1 1/8" stem on a 1" steerer.

If you have ANY spacers between your headset & stem, then you have to remove about 4mm worth (the amount will vary based no the actual stem) so that only about 2mm-to-3mm of unsupported stem is visible inside the stem when the top cap is not in place.

Some headsets have more inherent "stack" height than others.

If the steerer is truly too short, well, you will need to buy a new fork! Next time, don't cut the steerer until AFTER you know how long it needs to be -- measure twice, cut once.

alfeng said:

-- measure twice, cut once.

Ah, a wise carpenter among us! When I was an apprentice this was hammered into me. But that was then...

Depending on how short your steerer is and how much you want to raise it, there is a stem riser available. See here: performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗
I used one on my mountain bike and it works great.

I fit on average two stem risers a month, they come in 1 1/8 Black or Silver, couple of brands, Zoom, Heads-Up, Satori:

gclark8 said:

I fit on average two stem risers a month, they come in 1 1/8 Black or Silver, couple of brands, Zoom, Heads-Up, Satori:

Thank You Gentlemen...stem riser may be the eventual answer....but in looking closer I realized the FSA stem has an ANGLE to it.....all I had to do to get an additional 1 to 1 1/2 inch rise was flip the stem to advantage the UPWARD aspect of this angle!!!! Learning AGAIN Thanks!!