CaptainPlanet

Being a bike maintenance noob, I think I might have spent upward of an hour every time I readjust the stem. I always feel like it's not aligned and I get stuck in a loop trying to realign it, overshoot, repeat. If the fork is simply manufactured with a slottle tip so that the stem can only fit onto it one way and fully aligned, then there will be no problems.

Has anyone ever attempted it? If not, was it a structural strength issue? or manufacturing cost?

Bike posts have this issue too, but aligning it s much easier because you can just look at the bike tube for reference.

freeranger

As to bike posts (assuming means seat post)--not everyone rides with their seat pointed exactly straight ahead-some will have it angled a little to the left or right. Forks are made with the steerers longer than needed, to fit whatever bike they are to be used on. Head tubes are not all the same length, and the fork steerer must be cut to size to fit the bike. A slot, if it went all the way down the steerer tube might catch and/or rub on loose bearings. My take on it, anyway.

Miele Man

So true! Years ago I spent a very long time getting my bike set up just right for me. that involved having the handlebar set just a bit off center to the right a few degrees to compensate for a shoulder that wouldn't allow me to reach the handlebar comfortably. Ditto for the seatpost. I had the bike in a shop to get a couple of items installed and when they returned the bike to me they said, "we noticed the seatpost and stem weren't at 90 degrees so we straightened them for you for no extra charge". I was a bit upset but figured no problem. I told them that the offsets were deliberate and asked to borrow two hex keys so I could reset them to what I needed.

Oh, i keep my stem snugged up but not so tight that it can't turn in a fall whilst riding. If the stem was keyed to the fork I couldn't do that. Being able to do that has save a handlebar from serious damage a couple of time over the decades.

Cheers

Retro Grouch 

Try closing one eye while you align your handlebars.

dedhed

Before you take it apart put a dot on the stem and headset with a sharpie and line them back up when you reinstall

Moe Zhoost

I've never seen a stem with a slottle tip. I'm also incredibly surprised that the term slottle was not torpedoed by the forum censor.

79pmooney

I center the tire on the front of the stem, then check to make sure the amount of spoke showing on either side of the tire is identical. (A tiny bit off makes for a big difference in seen spoke lengths.)

Like many, I set my seats a little to the left. Also used to set my my right brake hood inboard. Now I do both. (Helps after broken collar bones. I've done both sides and am back to symmetrical.)

BobbyG

A seatpost "slottle" would preclude "dressing left" or "dressing right".

PoorInRichfield

I totally agree with you, OP.

I've been a bike-o-holic for over 30 years (since BMX bikes in the early 80's) and can't believe that with all the advances in technology and all the changes to "standards", a standard hasn't arisen to simply make handlebar alignment a no-brainer task. As you stated, a simple channel in the fork tube and a corresponding bump in the stem clam would resolve this alignment issue.

I've watched all sorts of videos for tips on how to align handlebars and haven't been happy with any of them as they all pretty much come down to "eyeballing" the handlebars against some other parallel object and I always feel like my bars still aren't straight. I would think that Park would've devised some kind of tool for quickly aligning the bars so as to save mechanics a lot of time, but nope... no such tool exists.

My 2020 Trek Domane finally alleviated the seat-post alignment issue as the seat post is not round so it only fits on the bike completely straight. Back-in-the-day when aftermarket parts were a bigger deal (and most bike frames where round-tubed steel), people would balk at the idea of a non-round, non-standard seat post as that prevented using aftermarket parts. Today's bikes come in all shapes and sizes due to their carbon make-up and whatever post the bike comes with is usually the one that stays... so I'm glad that Trek finally killed the round seat post on my bike.

CaptainPlanet

So it's more of a fitting and freedom thing than an engineering issue. I never thought of that before. Always thought bikes should be perfectly symmetrical, but then human bodies are not really that symmetrical. Interesting point.

Miele Man

Also it'd take a pretty fine bit of machining to get a god fit between a keyed stem and fork. In other words, it's a solution looking for a problem and not something probably 99.9% of bicyclists need let alone want.

Cheers

woodcraft

Stems and seatposts frequently get stuck from corrosion,

Not being able to rotate the parts would make it much harder to deal with that.

unterhausen

You would need a puller to get them out if they were keyed. Virtually impossible for a seatpost without some extra design elements.

JustinOldPhart

I thought I was, if not the only one, in a very small minority by not having my seat perfectly straight. I have learned that we are a community!
We need to demand our rights, but let's not let a left-vs-right schism develop.

My handlebars are perfectly aligned, handlebar 90 degrees to the axis of the wheel, but I would not want something in place that had to shear in the event of a mishap. I want the stem to rotate in the steerer tube.

My seat lug has a vertical point at the front. A long time ago I put a dimple right at the top of that point so that I could easily R&R the seat post and get it back in place at the proper height and alignment. I R&R the seat post every couple of years and clean the inside and apply a bit of grease to the seat post before it goes back in. Just maintenance.

FiftySix

If any one wears perspective curving glasses like I do, I look with the left eye closed then the right eye closed and try to pick a visual average between each view to get things straight.

Geekage

In the past, manufacturing tolerances- especially of small scale, handmade frames- meant that alignment wouldn't be that great. It seems that any alignment features would often be more troublesome than helpful, and they would just add unnecessary labor and cost.

Also, any slot on the steerer tube would make it weaker and increase the chance of failure, unless the steerer were made thicker and heavier. Sure, old style threaded steerer tubes did have slots on them, but those slots weren't much deeper than the external threading, and the quill stem reinforced that area.

With practice, you should be able to align the handlebar in under a minute to, say half a degree. Longer if you need it even straighter.

There is at least one laser handlebar alignment tool- not made by Park- available on the market, in addition to one you can 3D print yourself.

Buzzkill53120

Really? Do we really need a solution for this "problem". I too am a little OCD about alignment, however the solution(s) suggested is a bit much for the additional cost and complexity. People it's not that hard.

dedhed

https://bikerumor.com/2018/01/17/rev...tune-spurtreu/

Leebo

A ruler, tape measure or piece of string will work.

Camilo

Honest question: those of you that are bothered by slightly off handlebars when you're in the shop (garage, basement, living room) adjusting them - does it really actually bother you once you get moving on the road? Do you squint down the stem to the tire and make sure it's lined up? Do you think it affects your fun, speed, whatever? Or do you just ride and steer the bike right or left as needed and it's the last thing on your mind?

Handlebars need only be square enough, and that isn't very precise, frankly. If you're noticing a tiny bit off , that eyeballing it isn't good enough, well, they make medication for that. Just kind of kidding. When I'm initially adjusting bars, I've noticed handlebars slightly off and it bothers me enough to try to get it better. But I've never actually noticed it while riding. or if I do, I don't care. But I'm not OCD, a trained scientist or engineer.... far, far from it.

Many have also mentioned off center saddles as a fit issue. I do the same. It helps my ergonomics. I also have my brake lever hoods adjusted differenlty on the bars since my right arm can't go as straight as my left (which also can't go straight).

subgrade

^ Agreed with the poster above. Although I always try aligning everything the best I can, I have never actually felt any minute offset while riding. In fact, sometime ago I discovered that I had ridden for well over a year with my handlebar 5mm off center, resulting in one side of it being 1cm wider than the other (flat bar, 640mm length). I never noticed it, and I didn't feel any change in handling after I centered the handlebar.

79pmooney

I just has a rather amusing thought - our handlebars being a mm or three off to one side makes absolutely no difference to anything on the bike while riding except to that grey blob between our ears, Yet it is so important that we be able to dial it in exactly because it we detect the slightest bit off, it may bug us to crazy over a 5 hour ride! (And if we didn't looked down, we would never know.)

It's like missing the dish on a wheel by a couple of mm. Yes, it matters to swapping wheels cleanly. And tire clearance on very close bikes. But for the rest? Just grey matter stuff. Right up there with drive-side photos, correct locations of labels, etc.

Ben