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Weird Handlebar/cockpit reconstructed shoulder issue

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
So like many of you I've had some surgery on my shoulder to keep it from dislocating a few years ago. The consequence of this is that my corrected should sits about 1 inch or so further back in its socket than my uncorrected shoulder (which I'm sure one day will get its own surgery).

The result of all this is that I effectively have one arm that is significantly shorter than the other, which makes my bike feel like the handlebars are twisted/off center/whatever when they are in fact, straight as can be. Anyone had this problem before? Is it worth trying to compensate for this with an intentionally misaligned cockpit setup?
 
i say loosen the stem, hold your bars where they feel the most comfortable and tighten them up, crooked or not. feel is much better than sight. i've noticed plenty of times after a crash at the jumps that my bars are slightly mis-aligned, but if i'm not looking directly at them, i don't even notice while riding...
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
i say loosen the stem, hold your bars where they feel the most comfortable and tighten them up, crooked or not. feel is much better than sight. i've noticed plenty of times after a crash at the jumps that my bars are slightly mis-aligned, but if i'm not looking directly at them, i don't even notice while riding...
Direct mount stem... :(
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
that being said, i have no clue how you could possibly mis-align your cockpit other than intentionally bending your bars, which is obviously a bad idea...
I was thinking along the lines of offsetting the bars so they aren't centered in the stem. Not bending them, ha ha. There might be just enough clamping area to get away with that.
 
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4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
The Funn RSX stem I've used with the slotted holes for length adjustment have had more tendency to twist out of position, maybe this type of stem could be used to give you a little bit of angle at the bars?
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
You could always trim one side a little shorter to accomplish the same thing.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
What about a new uncut steerer tube and lower crown so you can switch to a normal clamp on stem? Would be the easiest way I think.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
run a non direct mount stem? I'll send you the spare thomson I have sitting around for 30 bucks
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
I think he just needs to crash into something on that side to bend the bars up.

He says that he's too dialed of a rider these days.

I bet I could find a tree that has a different opinion.
 

GiantRider

Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
589
0
Nor. Ca. Santa Cruz ,Mang
I second the the grip idea, find the thinest and thickest grips you can and mount them up, it will not be much but should help a little. Same with gloves, my Da Kines are really thick but my TLD are ultra thin. Good Luck
 
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dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
Switch to an Intense frame.
It may take a couple warranties to find one mis-aligned in the right direction but it will happen eventually.

Or twist the saddle a few degrees, set some Gravity Light cranks out in the sun until malleable and tweak those as needed until everything feels right.
 

Tmeyer

Monkey
Mar 26, 2005
585
1
SLC
Same. Broke my clavicle and shoulder 2 years ago and I've had a similar feeling ever since... Never really considered changing my set-up though?
 

FarkinRyan

Monkey
Dec 15, 2003
611
192
Pemberton, BC
Sorry for the super-vague information but there was definitely a European world cup downhiller who used to deliberately set up his bike with the bars offset in the stem many moons ago. Thinking he was a Frenchie but the name escapes me.
 

EVIL JN

Monkey
Jul 24, 2009
491
24
Wasnt it Pascal? I remember Warner talking about that quite a few times and dont forget Beer that runs different length cranks
 

ScarredOne

Monkey
Sep 18, 2001
185
0
How did your post-op physical therapy go?
How short are you on your joint range of motion on the scoped shoulder?
Did you fix the muscle imbalances you developed?

My guess is that you need to fix the imbalances between your shoulders and within the "fixed" shoulder itself.

Then keep working on the joint range of motion. Or get put to sleep (Jackson juice), have a hot girl mobilize the sh!t out of it, and don't question why you woke up with a sore throat.