I dropped my bars today.
A while back, I made changes to my Montague Paratrooper to more readily handle my bulk, weight, and height. Longer seatpost, downhill crank (after the cheap stamped factory went taco on a hill in Austin), and a few other odds and ends.
One of these was a stem riser, which allowed me to ride without my gut pushing so hard into my lungs. This had been a challenge, and made riding almost impossible, as I couldn't catch my breath.
It worked, and while I have respect for the likes of Sheldon Brown and Grant Peterson, the more upright position just didn't feel all that great.
Yeah, my physical condition had a lot to do with that, too.
This week, I got the Montague out to Tannehill and took a ride. Short, only 4.5 miles, but while my legs didn't feel bad, I'm trying to ease my Capn's quarters into riding again.
While riding, it occurred to me that, after losing over a hundred lbs, my gut isn't the obstacle it once was.
Today, after I finished work, I stopped at Bikelink to see if they had a spare stem cap bolt, as the one I had handy was way too long for using without the riser. They provided one gratis, so I went ahead and picked up a can of frame saver (need it for my LHT anyway). A little unscrewing, unstacking, and reassembly, and I had my riser, spacers, and long bolt in a plastic bag, and Sarge was looking pretty good!
Outside and around the parking lot, and horry cwap, Batman! It felt GREAT!
I can see the point of the above luminaries, but sometimes, getting over lower handlebars feels like flying. Also, lighter and less noisy, as there's a lot of leverage on those risers. I swooped around the lot for a bit, and am looking forward to getting out on another ride with the bars back in their old position.