JulietteP

Hello fellow cyclists,

I'm planning on buying a secondhand Koga WorldTraveller and plan to make a trip through Europe. On one bike I really like the handlebars are quite low and cannot go any higher. I was wondering if anyone has ideas on how to adjust the bike so that my posture will be a bit more upright.
Would it help to just get different handlebars where the ends are bent towards me a bit, maybe an adjustable stem or can I somehow elongate/replace the fork/tube that the stem is attached to?

Or could it be that the bike is just too small? Because the saddle is up quite high already.

Thanks!

Iride01 

If I couldn't have a drop bar, then I'd have some type of bar where the ends were pointed back to the rear like those old style bars bikes had before drops became a thing. Not sure if there is a proper term for that style. But many swept back bars I see today are hardly swept back much at all.

A frame that is slightly larger for you than recommended will get you a higher stack relative to what your proper saddle height should be. So therefore the bars will be higher relative to you on that alone. But that also gets them a little further forward, so you have to counteract that with a shorter stem. But if you do find some bars that the ends point straight back, that'll go a long way to overcoming the longer reach of a bigger frame.

Also, in some different kinds of bars, even drop bars, they make a riser version and that will get them another inch or so higher for you.

And as a last resort, there are extenders for the steerer tube, which I'll always believe a poor choice as I imagine they allow one to put loads on the steerer tube that the bike designers never accounted for. Maybe not, or maybe you will never put that much force into them, but it will still seem a lower margin of safety to me.

Yes, it could be.

Saddle height is the one thing you want correct for any bike you get. Once you know that, then you can figure out where you want everything else. And that might well not be the size for you if that is the needed saddle height for you and the bars are too low.

3alarmer 

...without photos, it's hard to tell. There are many ways to bring the bar up and closer to you. They vary according to the sort of fork and headset on the bike.

That said, I'm hesitant to jump into this without you at least Googling up some information on how to measure your own anatomy, and find a frame that can be made to fit that anatomy. A trip on a bicycle through Europe sounds like an ordeal on a bike that is too small for you. Because it is named "World Traveler" is not in and of itself a good reason to select it. It has to generally fit, as a frame, before you start working on the various other things like where the bar sits, and how high the saddle is positioned.

There's a whole forum here on Biekforooms fitting: Fitting Your Bike

You ought to understand what makes you comfortable on a longer ride on a bicycle long before you get on the airplane.

easyupbug 

Go here:https://www.koga.com/en/bikes/trekki...veller?frame=H
They have very basic fit guidance for the bike as you will be using it.

Rolla

More upright stem:





Jones bar (shown with 2.5" riser option):


Surly Truck Stop bar:

pbass

There's tons of "alt" bars out these days with generous backsweep, and varying amounts of rise. This is a really cool resource:

https://whatbars.com

3alarmer 

,
...once you go to that Koga website, and figure out if the secondhand bike you are considering is the proper size for you initially, the ways you make your riding position more upright are a shorter and more upright angled stem, sliding the saddle all the way forward in the seat post, or buying a new seat post with less setback. IOW the basic principles are to move yourself closer to the bar, while still on the saddle, and elevating the bar. To ride efficiently over long distances, the height from saddle to pedals is pretty much a fixed commodity.

dedhed

Depending on year of "World Traveller" it may have a threaded headset with quill stem or threadless headset with threadless stem. Depending on type of headset it will take different "parts" to change the bars/height

philbob57

If it has a 'quill' stem, the Nitto Technomic stems allow raising the 'bars higher than usual.