It seems like every other thread includes a negative comment about spacers, but I have to confess that I’m not exactly sure why. I asked my LBS & bike fit guy about this but nobody I’ve spoken with seems to think spacers are an issue.
Provided they don’t exceed the recommended specs (for safety purposes) can someone please tell me why they are a bad thing to have?
because having spacers means that you could be lower, and everyone knows unless you are so low that your brake levers are scraping the ground, you are as aero as a brick. /sarc
1)Fashion - a bike without spacers, just looks better and for many folks that seems to be most important
A couple of fork manufacturers specify that you ride with a couple of spacers on their full carbon forks. The Reynolds website used to (maybe still does) specified this. Something to do with the development of microcracks in the carbon steerer if not using the spacers if I remember right.
Even Lance rides with spacers on his TT bike, so I don’t get it either.
Was just on the Reynolds website and it doesn’t look that they even make forks any more? I also see that there was a fork recall in 2007? I had an Ouzo Pro on my Lemond road bike that was specified to use spacers with.
You will see few or no spacers on Pro bikes, because they cut the top of the fork tube to fit. This saves some weight. In the real world, if you are planning on either selling your bike in the future or gaining/losing weight or changing position, it is a good idea to leave a number of spacers on for flexibitly in configuration.
The Slowtwitch world tends toward Pros=“Must be good for me” vs what is practacle for the average Joe.
You are right of course.
People incorrectly look at a bike with spacers (bike without rider mind you) and conclude the fit is bad.
Don’t hesitate to use spacers as appropriate.
For instance, I have long legs and a short torso, so to get the top tube length right I buy a smaller frame. That puts me in a position to have perhaps 15 inches of seat post showing. That drop would literally have my head lower than my butt without spacers.
i just checked as well (i have an ouzo pro aero and don’t use any spacers under the stem). they still have the installation pdf’s for the ouzo pro under the “support” section on their website. it lists a max number of spacers for both 1" and 1 1/8" steer tubes, but makes no mention of having a minimum.
in fact, now that i think about it, i’ve checked for it in the past as well because my wife’s old bike had an ouzo pro. couldn’t find it then either. only place i’ve ever read anything about it is here on this forum. hmmm…
Andriod, maybe my post wasn’t clear, sorry. I never said people shouldn’t have spacers (notice I said “big spacer stack” not NO spacers). I was simply answering the original posters question about why spacers are viewed negativley on ST. When the ST community sees a picture of a bike with a lot of spacers, I think people make negative comments because the spacers: 1) aren’t fashionable 2) people think the bike doesn’t fit, and 3) in some cases think it may be unsafe. It’s gotten to the point where it’s kind of like “your seat is too high”, an ongoing ST joke so when people see any spacers, they make comments.
Personally I think it’s pretty reasonable to have a few cm of spacers to allow for minor adjustments. But I also agree with the ST spacer police that if someone needs a 2-3 inch stack of spacers, than they should have bought a bike with a taller headtube.
its pretty simple
if you have a LOT of spacers, you either are slacking off on getting as low as you can to go as fast as you can
OR
you are on a bike whose geometry is too agressive for you.
Now, that said, if you are someone who does triathlons for fun (which is ok) and want the bike with the least possible drag (Which is ok) then you might end up with a nice comfy setup on a P4 with a big stack of spacers.
which, is ok (assuming you aren’t putting the steerer in danger)
in any hobby it just annoys the fanatics when the casual players have fancy equipment really.
So I guess it is pretty much what I suspected, although I was beginning to wonder if I was absent the day spacers were covered.
they are not. spacers help with proper bike fit. some people need them, some don’t.
Even Lance rides with spacers on his TT bike, so I don’t get it either.
What’s with the spacer thing?
Typical ST over analysis and over-thinking is what I chalk it up to.
Indeed, Armstrong rides with about 2cm of spacers on both his road at TT bikes
If you need spacers to fit properly, then you need a few spacers.
However, several fork manufactureres have a max amount of spacers that you can have in for carbon steerer forks - it’s around 2cm and we have seen bikes being ridden here by ST riders that have more than that - that is a serious issue
Many people buy bikes that don’t fit them properly, with head tubes so short and front ends so low that they need to use a large number of spacers. Why they do this, I have no idea.
Uber bikers like Bjorn Anderson rides low - so I must ride low to!!!
. . and so on.
Two observations about headset spacers:
Round spacers compromise the benefits of an efficiently designed aero head tube. The more spacers, the more compromise. At the low speed wind tunnel in San Diego spacers were regarded as significantly detrimental to optimal front end aerodynamics. If you paid good money for nice bike with a well concieved aero head tube then adding 2-4 centimeters of round headset spacers likely undid much of the benefit gained by having an aerodynamic head tube. There may be other, more resourceful and aerodynamically efficient methods for getting your elbows where they need to be, such as a taller aerodynamic shaped riser under the elbow pads.
Most fork manufacturers have some specification about how many spacers are appropriate to use. Sometimes it is expressed as a multiple of the steer tube diameter, such as, “1.5 times the diameter of the head tube”. When you exceed that it may place too much load on the steer tube or prevent the headset assembly from maintaining a reliable adjustment.
The bottom line for me is that headset spacers are a good fitting tool that provide a good measure of veritcal adjustment to your cockpit. They are very good on newer bike positions where the athlete intends to get acclimated and gradually migrate to a lower posture provided it remains powerful, efficient and comfortable (read: open hip angle). They are also useful on an indoor trainer where, for some odd reason, it is a good measure more difficult to stay low than it is in the real world on the road (no suspension effect from tires perhaps?). Adding a few spacers during the winter if you have the steer tube to do it may make resting on your aerobars while riding the trainer easier.
Ultimately a ton of spacers suggests to me a person might have done better to find a bike with a higher head tube. Now, that isn’t always possible. There will always be a culture of fellows out there who really need four spacers under their stem to maintain a serviceable posture and pedal comfortably and efficiently. It’s an aerodynamic trade off, but it is a fair (if inelegant) one.
i used to be one of the spacer haters out there, mainly cuz I assumed folks werent working hard enuf to getr lower and wasting economy, plus its ugly. I ruptured a couple discs in my back almost a year ago now and have had to put the stock e112 fork on my bike, as I had a cut down oval concepts on it b4. Anyhow, my headtube is way to short for what my back requires and my spacers arent 2-3cm their 2-3 frickin inches, I HATE it, but I can ride it and it doenst make my leg numb etc. Posts here have raised my awareness to possible safety concerns re: steertube so I’ll be looking into that (and thanks to you all) so I dont kill myself and who knows whom else. Anyway, I’ve learned, spacers have a purpose.
i used to be one of the spacer haters out there, mainly cuz I assumed folks werent working hard enuf to getr lower and wasting economy, plus its ugly. I ruptured a couple discs in my back almost a year ago now and have had to put the stock e112 fork on my bike, as I had a cut down oval concepts on it b4. Anyhow, my headtube is way to short for what my back requires and my spacers arent 2-3cm their 2-3 frickin inches, I HATE it, but I can ride it and it doenst make my leg numb etc. Posts here have raised my awareness to possible safety concerns re: steertube so I’ll be looking into that (and thanks to you all) so I dont kill myself and who knows whom else. Anyway, I’ve learned, spacers have a purpose.
if your steerer tube is metal, there’s probably not a concern with that. If it’s carbon, then there would be. I’m not familiar with the e112 fork, but I think there’s a good chance it’s an aluminum steerer tube.