HOW TO: Align Bicycle Handlebars Perfectly // The BEST Method!

The easiest way to get perfectly aligned handlebars on your road, gravel, or mountain bike. Works with drop bars or straight bars. No special tools required. Come for the how-to, stay for the mathematical proof!
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[@yanuarpermana5986]

now my problem is to find the straight stick

[@rc51bigdaddy]

Thanks! No more stopping in the street for another handlebar adjustment!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Ha! Happy to share the tip

[@AdamL_18]

last ride i stopped 3 times to readjust my steering.. no matter what i did my brain just couldnt make it straight

[@artad6420]

i've been using a wooden 1 foot ruler that i tape to the fork. works all the time. great content video and use of animation to reinforce the point. thanks for the algebra lesson.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Nice! Everyone can benefit from a little math once in a while.

[@MTB-Josh]

Good stuff. A "tool" that most people have at home that I've used for a long time is a ruler. I set the ruler on the stanchions of my fork and align my bars that way.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Right on! ..but what about ‘geometric amplification?’ 😆

[@prof_writer]

Every video your production standards are going up...loved the equations showing me how many degrees off center my handlebars are...and to think I've been eyeballing and tightening up for 30 years. Great work and it's clear you are an effective educator.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha, fantastic feedback. Thanks

[@h.p.734]

This is great advice! What I do is I press the handlebars (shifter heads) against the wall, whilst putting a rod against the front fork (with the wheels removed). I make sure to align the bar to exactly the middle of the fork and measure the distance between the wall and the edges of the rod. Basically the same concept, but I feel it's more accurate as I don't trust my eyes to align them perfectly.

[@SortaYeah]

I watched the video, then read your reply (which was super helpful) and made a little variation. This one requires equal spaced planks, as in a deck surface or something similar, or even just a 2 X 4 could work. Remove the front wheel, and rest the fork in the space between two planks (or up against the 2 x 4). In the next gap, place a piece of plywood or something similar (I used a large picture frame), and align that with the shifter hoods. Finally I can stop looking at my front wheel and wondering if I'm losing my mind.

[@n0ch91c3s]

A couple issues: As you mention, the stick must be parallel to the handlebar. Depending on the shape of the fork, it could make a big difference. Also you're assuming the crown and leg area are symmetric. More and more often with road and gravel disc they are not. All "fancy" bar alignment gauges make assumptions regarding symmetry and alignment of other parts, for instance the Tune gauge that drops a laser onto the tire is assuming the wheel is in dish and the hub is perfectly square in the dropouts, etc. And just like you said, small variances can make for great stem angle offsets. I currently just install the thru axle without the wheel and reference that to the bar. Ideally, an extra long thru axle could be used, just like you use a long stick. The hub must be concentric with the axle. Then anything can be misaligned, but if the axle and bar are parallel to each other, the bar is perfectly straight.

[@TheBikeSauce]

werd

[@meibing4912]

Highly recommended. Works like a charm. Used a clothes hanger with a broad base. Made it very easy to be sure it was aligned with the fork/wheel and perpendicular to the handlebars horizontally. Also, the clothes hanger top and head negates the need for any tape!

[@thebikefam]

OK, I like this. I’m new to drop bar bikes, but while I was doing this, I thought of using a laser level I have. A level line passing through your handlebars makes it easy when it projects across your brake levers. Maybe I’ll make a video on it. It worked super.

[@jc10747]

Back up. It’s not always OCD. One eye is dominant. Close one lid. Did the object seen move? Close other lid. Did it not move? The non moving object indicates the dominant eye. That makes such accurate alignment tasks more difficult, especially if you’re in a rush. Bottom line, such hacks/techniques are welcome news!

[@nesutoneko]

Dude! FINALLY some content that satisfies my bike-nerdery OCD! This is fantastic work, well produced and clearly delivered - without cutting any corners or glossing over important details. Please keep up the excellent work and please continue the deep-diving nerdery! 💪✌️

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha will do. Thx

[@jirdesteva]

"Annoyed to the core." Yeah me.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha so I’m not the only one!

[@healthycycles6078]

Hey better measure your arms 1st to see if they are the same length 😂

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆

[@healthycycles6078]

@@TheBikeSauce BTW great tip and thanks!

[@ddg227]

1. He still has full hair, not fair. :) 2. Be careful with finding a rod so perfectly straight, you might end up realising the fork itself is skewed...it's a slippery slope. 3. This actually taught me how to be a better programmer.. really seemed like bad code review day in a great team.

[@davidmedina7169]

Greetings fellow nerds. Being a bike nerd, glad I stumbled on this channel of likeminded. I just got an Abby level setter for leveling the shift/brake levers altitude position. It occurred to me that the tool can be used for handlebar rotational centering as described in the video. Haven’t seen anyone online suggest this for the Abby tool, but i think it will work using the furthest outside vertical face of the lever as a reference point.

[@arieljohnmaduro9788]

Looking forward for a collab with Locked in and Path Less Pedaled 😊

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha, I’ve been slowly bugging them; don’t want to be a pest 😆

[@taichihead42]

For crying out loud you never gave us a demonstration.

[@TheBikeSauce]

3:06 - You just make the bars line up with the stick, but compare points that are far from the centerline.

[@WayneBaillie-in4ko]

It went together easily in less than an hour. kzbin.infoUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L Make sure the front fork is forward or the pedals will hit the front tire. Tires are both a little soft so it needs air before I ride it. The rear wheel didn't come with a clamp regular bolts hold it on. The front had the clamp. No scratches out of box. Rims are a little off with a slight wobble. They could have spent more time with the spoke tool fixing the run out. So far out of the box I'm happy with it. I did replace the pedals with a nice aftermarket set. After riding it a bit my A$$ is a bit sore so I ordered another seat. Overall I'm nearly 60 and didn't ride a bike in 30 years. I like my new 29" Schwinn. It will be used for casual rides with my friend.

[@kge420]

I get the nose of my saddle straight and then measure out to a common point of the left and right side of the handlebars. I keep these measurements written down for reference after any maintenance that requires the bars being moved. For saddle straight I use a 3/4” dowel that rests in the taint rail and runs to the center of the stem cap. This can also be used to check tilt and fore and aft.

[@davidmatthew5246]

Thank you so much!!!! I am like you. But I have to ride the bike to notice then stop reset, ride again, etc. (UGH!). I will try your method as soon as I obtain a stick. I will mark the stick center and an equal distance out, to also line the bars up left/right on the stem center line. Thanks again.

[@rgefryer]

It never occurred to me to line up the bars with reference points; I've always just looked at the direction the wheel is pointing! With the stick idea, can you clamp it to the forks using the spokes, avoiding the need to tape it in place?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Sure I suppose that’d work too!

[@erikwolfe3187]

Yep, that’s what I do...

[@galer.7220]

Does anyone know what to use as a point of reference? I really liked that the video explained everything since it makes it so intuitive, but I’m still struggling with how and from where I should look at the point of reference.

[@kristiandawe85]

this is brilliant, i'll use this method all the time now.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Nice!

[@DoomOfConviction]

I’m totally that kind of guy, sattle and handlebars have to be perfectly straight xD

[@mrpunchy100]

Man! Finally something that work.s Thanks! Do you have a solution to align the shifters too?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha it’s a bit trickier, but I’m working on a video for shifters

[@mrpunchy100]

@@TheBikeSauce Appreciate it!

[@geokite]

Perfect, exactly what I was looking for.

[@chrisrap52]

Excellent. Like the nerdity.

[@happinessisinternal]

Great idea. Another perhaps easier way that I know is to take your front wheel off and rest your forks on the ground. Then use a long, straight ‘stick’ like a spirit level on the ground touching your forks. Same principle as yours but perhaps less possibility of human error in taping stick to frame. Thanks tho. I look forward to watching more of your videos

[@TheBikeSauce]

Yea definitely would work too.

[@dirtwolfmtb]

There is it uses a laser, mounts to the bars and laser is a line on front tire. ~$75 usd

[@KabirBindra]

Future video request = the math behind disc vs rim brakes - kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3uukJdspNOBoNE

[@nelsonsilva6842]

Just use a big spirit level, it's straight and can secure it get the spokes. Yes it's the method!

[@carolinehix6128]

Now i just need to purchase a stick.

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆😆

[@flacche]

This is a great tip - Thank you! The most difficult part is securing the stick on the fork parallel to the handlebar. I guarantee bike companies like Canyon, Trek, Cannondale, etc. have clip-on jigs (sticks) to do this quickly/easily. I also recommend taping your fork to protect the paint from whatever you rest against it.

[@meibing4912]

I used a quality clothes hanger with a broad base and placed it towards the fork bars. Does not get easier than that. Even makes it very easy to check that you are horizontal with the handlebars.

[@MegaPhill93]

im so sad that this channel have very low subbers vs the thing this guy throwing at us.. z z z

[@MusicBoxVinyl]

My handlebar goes to the right (crooked)

[@zdravo4]

Hello and thank you for this very useful video. I am strugling with this setting just as you said and when I got on the bike, I have impression that it is not 100% algined. Your method is genius, I also found a video of famous bike mechanic RJ the bike guy which has similar method with ruler put against the edges of the forks, same principle as yours but a bit different.

[@paulbarham7083]

For extra nerdiness, maybe tape a second stick across the bar ends of the drops?

[@yamdrew]

I’ve always done a straight wooden dowel in the fork dropouts, works quite well and costs just a few bucks.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Makes sense!

[@skulluxe1]

I also use this method to set my brake/shift levers on road bikes. You can tuck the stick against a common point on the hoods (usually where the lever and hood meet) and check that both levers are even vertically and horizontally with the bars. No more uneven fore/aft or up/down levers

[@TheBikeSauce]

Nice! You foreshadowed this week’s video

[@osyatsolap]

nah i just remove the wheel let the fork stand on a floor mop works like a charm

[@nazardemchuk9122]

Thanks! Nice method !

[@ImActuallyABanana]

Damn a six minute video just to align my Handelbars ? No thanks ima go find a shorter video. They say that if you can't explain it simply then you don't understand it lol

[@TheBikeSauce]

we go hard in the paint here.

[@oldanslo]

1:32 Hope your next video will show the best method to align your snowflakes perfectly.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha honestly, that is on the list of videos to make 😂. It’s the only problem with that supacaz stuff.

[@oldanslo]

@@TheBikeSauce Ah, Supacaz says these are stars. Had to do a nerdy deep dive to understand why snowflakes are always six sided while stars can be 4, 5, 6, or more pointed. The answer, of course, involves Fourier Transforms!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Holy Moly! Fellow nerd. The day I can incorporate FFT and the frequency domain into a bike video is the day I will have made it.

[@BennoSattler]

Nice one! Lefty-owners (and all of us, too) could use a rod fitted through the front hub, like an overly long axle....

[@AverageReviewsYT]

I jsut set them close then blind fold myself so I don’t have to see the crooked bars while riding

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆

[@michaelknoblett4481]

I would of been annoyed with a 10 second video that said use a stick. Now I've got to go use a stick to align my bars, thanks.

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆

[@victorjoseph2260]

Thank you so much.

[@velosurseine]

Thanks for this! I'm getting a Ted-Ed vibe from your voice and video :thumbs up:

[@TheBikeSauce]

haha I like it

[@kahakelii]

Hawaiian....Its about time someone talks about this equation conundrum....I still use a 10 inch magnetic level to achieve what your talking about.....Mahalo!! Great Video !!

[@yynnooot]

But how do you actually straighten it…

[@thhall459]

You nailed it, brother! My slightly crooked handlebar on my 2014 Specialized Tarmac SL4 "bothers me to my core" every time I ride it! I will try your method to get it right (finally) in 2024. Thank you!!

[@wadewittrock3673]

Come on, give the straight talk.

[@iLuvTheMostHigh]

Starts @1:04

[@bunnyadrian]

Oh, I feel this so much!

[@TheBikeSauce]

😂 ok good, so not just me.

[@dansotelo228]

A quick and easy method is to turn your handlebars at a 30 or 45-degree angle so you can see the entire front and the rear of the tire making it very easy to line up the handlebar & stem. Been doing this method for over 40 years and works great.

[@rainypath96]

Dude thank you. I just tried this and it’s perfect

[@totalrepawns]

you cant use this method on a rim brake bike

[@michaelrheiner2415]

Yeah....you certainly never hide the fact that you are nerding out....and yeah, I watched the whole thing so...it says something about me. Thanks for another nice tip!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Ha! 😂 perhaps it means you are a fellow bike nerd!

[@michaelrheiner2415]

@@TheBikeSauce I definitely have learned to enjoy learning from Nerds! My first job post graduate school was at VIrginia Tech (counselor), and the nerds would come do stuff to the computer...and rather than leave, I’d ask questions to learn. I will never design computer boards to test friction on a brake rotor, but yeah, learning from a nerd is wisdom :-). I may not be smart enough to be a nerd, but I’m wise enough to learn from one. Thanks for what you do and what you teach me!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Too kind!

[@Ranger42]

Brilliant!

[@huetish]

Do training wheels fit on this bike?

[@realhass]

gosh this video has too many references, I didn't finish watching it

[@TheBikeSauce]

Ha! I can’t blame you

[@Robwhat]

Wow, thank you for this! I have been “eyeballing it” for 20 years now and this is so much faster and more accurate.

[@raimokumpulainen1389]

Thanks. After watching this, I realize I'm not insane after all. Or maybe, I'm not the only insane one out there. Good stuff.

[@AlternativeBike]

Perfect! Thank you.

[@RAP4EVERMRC96]

What are those Ritchey bars?

[@cosinus_square]

This issue has mostly been solved on modern design bikes, as most new fork steerers are not round anymore. I always used a ruler, long enough to fit snug between the brifters and simply align the centre of the ruler with the centre of the wheel. Done

[@TheBikeSauce]

Curious. All my steer tubes are still round.

[@cosinus_square]

@@TheBikeSauce the new Emonda had a square'ish steerer, new Aeroad etc, the downside is proprietary fit.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Right - fork and stem combo. Proprietary, but solves the issue for some.

[@dyaz_de]

As a bike n00b, this is freaking helpful. Love the thorough explanation!

[@MrGoodaches]

Excellent vid. Useful topic. Fast, practical solution. Good reference to the relevant math

[@mf0u3021]

I made a ‘stick’ out of lego

[@dannyloo9688]

I don't think it's made anymore unfortunately but the Tune Spurtreu is a pretty cool laser device to align bars. Doesn't work on all stems unfortunately but when it does work, it's pretty slick and convenient.

[@shanshang9215]

2660

[@klr10410]

Do you use a tape measure?

[@alextang9745]

what bar is that and size?

[@shawnlee3292]

ramnled onfor over 2 minutes before saying anything

[@TheBikeSauce]

sheesh.

[@shawnsangha]

Trying it now...

[@buster.keaton]

I love this video! Aligning the handlebars has annoyed me for decades. I don't understand why bicycle manufacturers don't simply put a mark on the top or side of the fork tube and the back of the stem clamps that we could line-up to ensure straight bars with no effort.

[@Oddity26]

Great tip thanks!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Thanks for watching!

[@IPAColosseum]

Thx for this... will help with years and years of riding with slightly off kilter bars!

[@theforeigner6988]

Genius

[@orkunayteker9180]

MELMAN 👂

[@youme77324]

I enjoy the theoretical explanation but I would liked to see a hands on approach to it as well where you show step by step and apply what you spoke about

[@leethomaskc3327]

The front or back face of the fork may not be symmetrical.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Yea I proactively apologized to Lefty owners

[@derekt3923]

Very helpful, this and the Future Shock 2 video have helped a lot. Keep up the great work!

[@mlachaise]

But I've got a Lefty fork. 😭😭😭

[@TheBikeSauce]

Ahh! Well I did my best.. 😆

[@seanhayes6035]

Great tip! I'm trying to find a way to align the handlebar sweep with the tires contact patch on my mtb. I have Renthal bars with a 40mm rise and I'm finding it a bit perplexing.

[@TheBikerCuteChannel]

Nice. Thanks man.

[@lawrenceperez4922]

Thank you! i was installing my new drop bar right now and saw your video, big help for me

[@rumenripe]

how easy this could make things easily easy.. thanks for this in depth.

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆

[@richiel5557]

Great video. This fixed my handlebars in about 5 minutes and it feels just like it did when I bought it

[@JosephDowski]

Just discovered your channel and subscribed! Please do one on aligning your saddle next!! My OCD constantly has me fiddling with saddle height and the worst part is not adjusting the height, but aligning the saddle.. #bikenerd #whenyoufindyourpeople #ocd #adhd

[@TheBikeSauce]

Yes! Right on. That’s a good video topic

[@jakubkowalik4791]

Recently I've used laser (small office laser pointer) to adjust saddle. Probably you have some good method for saddle adjustment ?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Lasers. Nice. I usually just use string passed through 3 critical points: rear of saddle, front of saddle, center of stem top cap. Three co-linear points guarantee a straight line. BUT, this method has its caveats. String tension/ friction on nose of saddle, etc.. Perhaps another video is in order.. haha

[@tedguan108]

Thanks. It works very well.

[@steveretiredandcycling]

Excellent video. Thank you for the tip! All the best, Steve

[@TheBikeSauce]

Thx Steve! Retried and cycling - living the dream!

[@billvallette5607]

OMG nothing makes me crazy like out of whack bars. i can eyeball level within very close tolerances but you have just changed the game for me. thank you.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha glad to have helped.

[@Freddy3792]

I usually stand over the top tube as far back as possible and line up the front plate of the stem with the middle of the tire that is the furthest away from me. So basically looking forward on an angle as shallow as possible. Which results in a big distance between both reference points. So if the example you gave is looking at it on a 0° angle. I much rather use a 45° angle to line everything up which is not perfect but works a whole lot better.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Right, sounds like you’ve also leveraged ‘geometric amplification’ 🤘 The issue might be that, while the front of the tire is a good distance away, the end of the stem isn’t super far from the axis of rotation (fork steerer in this case), but certainly better than looking straight down

[@stevecroney63]

Thanks mate crooked handlebars been annoying me for years. Kept forgetting to do something about it until next time I was riding then it would annoy me again.Your method worked a treat love looking at the wheel in-line with the handlebars.Cheers

[@TheBikeSauce]

glad it worked out!

[@chanito_nyc]

Cliches exist for a reason😀

[@dannyr333]

Friggin awesome

[@TheBikeSauce]

Haha nice

[@Steven-zp8hf]

I find it interesting that manufacturers dont have an agreed standard notch to lock the handlebars in place. I guess its not that big-a-deal, but for me, drives me mad that its off by a few degrees and I'm standing there eye-balling it like a mad man.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Ha! So I’m not the only one.

[@asian432]

Geometrically speaking... straight on! Thanks for the info...

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆

[@bobwatkins1271]

I've been considering deliberately skewing my handlebars to compensate for the difference in the lengths of my arms. It turns out that my right arm is about an inch longer than my left.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Oh interesting. Sounds like a pro bike fit might particularly be a benefit as they can account for this type of discrepancy very accurately