Bamboo spacers

There's only so much one can say when advocating headset spacers, but every once in a while something comes along that just grabs one's attention. These bamboo headset spacers from Boo Bicycles as seen at the recent NAHBS show.

It's Takes a Drunk Cyclist...

...to make some sense out of this contentious issue.

More on the Phil Wood headset spacer here, for those that may be interested...

I'll Take The High Road

Caveat

Something I didn't anticipate when I set out to educate the world on the efficacy of the humble headset spacer was that some poor folk would think that I meant that spacers should be compulsory; this couldn't be further from the truth and, in case my philosophy wasn't clear enough in Wednesday's SMS, I just wanted to reassure my vast readership that I am definitely pro spacers, but certainly not anti-non-spacer by any means. Whatever it takes to make you enjoy the ride...

Eddy Merckx

The greatest cyclist of all time never "slammed" his stem, do you really think you're better than him?

SMS: Spacers Make Sense.

Don’t let fashion victims tell you to shorten that steerer until you are absolutely certain the height is where it’s best for you. For maximum enjoyment of cycling your bicycle should be an extension of you, which means it has to fit you correctly, not a bunch of outside observers that can’t even see you!

The ability to alter the height of your handlebars is as fundamental to the correct fit and, hence, function of a bicycle as saddle height is. Old traditional quill stems had plenty of adjustment, so why should threadless headsets not have plenty also?

Whatever bicycle you are riding your bike it cost you a no doubt considerable pile of shekels, so it’s a no-brainer that it’s better to show your investment the respect it deserves by ensuring it’s at it’s optimum in terms of customisation, than to disrespect it by rendering it less adjustable in an effort to make it fit some inane and irrelevant visual template.

After all, you can always cut a steerer down, but you can’t cut it back up again…

My Own Stem Spacers

I don't want anyone to think that I don't live by my own words, so here's my personal version of a "slammed stem".