Newbie with a question

[Mgraber]

I just took possession of a Trek Rail 7 and so far very happy. I'm 6'1" 250 and riding an XL. Overall fit is great but wish I had a little more rise on the handlebars. I added a stem riser last night and it feels good but after further research it appears stem risers may not be the best for off road use. Any alternative recommendations?

Thanks and looking forward to the forum.

 

[Gary]

Are you older, carrying injuries/disabilities or is it simply excess weight (around your middle) reducing your flexibility?

Generally an XL bikes bar height is optimised for weighting the front wheel and the small amount of headset spacers supplied should be enough to fine tune position. this is definitely true of the Rail
stem risers fitted prperly are safe enough for all but extreme riding but definitely aren't the best option, partly because you are essentially bolting yet another interface on between your fork and bars but also as they raise the bars to such a extreme it pretty much ruins the handling of any well designed bike.
MTB handlebars come in various rises. if you only need a little more height a better option would be to try a new bar with 15mm or so higher rise. a longer travel airspring or more supportive fork pressure will also raise your (riding) bar height

 

[Mgraber]

Are you older, carrying injuries/disabilities or is it simply excess weight (around your middle) reducing your flexibility?

Generally an XL bikes bar height is optimised for weighting the front wheel and the small amount of headset spacers supplied should be enough to fine tune position. this is definitely true of the Rail
stem risers fitted prperly are safe enough for all but extreme riding but definitely aren't the best option, partly because you are essentially bolting yet another interface on between your fork and bars but also as they raise the bars to such a extreme it pretty much ruins the handling of any well designed bike.
MTB handlebars come in various rises. if you only need a little more height a better option would be to try a new bar with 15mm or so higher rise. a longer travel airspring or more supportive fork pressure will also raise your (riding) bar height

 

[Mgraber]

Great info. I'm 46 no real medical issues other than bad back from years of abuse. I like the handlebar option with a little more rise.

 

[alan_sh]

I found the biggest issue with bar risers was the cable length for the hydraulic front brake. On my bike that was the limiting factor. I didn't notice any issues with handling (maybe I'm not that good of a rider) and it certainly made it more comfortable.

 

[alexbeck175]

I just took possession of a Trek Rail 7 and so far very happy. I'm 6'1" 250 and riding an XL. Overall fit is great but wish I had a little more rise on the handlebars. I added a stem riser last night and it feels good but after further research it appears stem risers may not be the best for off road use. Any alternative recommendations?

Thanks and looking forward to the forum.

As Gary mentioned the bar option would be good.
I'm 6ft 3, more than 250 and i ride an XL, I've upgraded the bars on all my bikes to riser bars around 20mm higher than standard.
It will give a more relaxed upright feeling when riding.