My RAD is dialed but my levers hit my top tube

Hi Lee,

I bought Dialed ebook from your website and have now got my RAD to + 1mm (was +51mm) , My RAAD is at 57.5 degrees (was 62) and my SHO is +10mm
Had to purchase some new bars and use a different stem that I already had so pleased I got pretty much there – now need to go and ride some decent trails to see how it feels and get used to the difference (its quite a bit) but one thing now is that my Shifter or Dropper lever will now impact the top tube if the bars rotate in an off (they didn’t hit before) – is this something you come across often and any idea on protecting the top tube other that wrapping some suitable tape/rubber/foam ?

Much appreciated
Peter


Hi Peter,

I’m glad you got your bike Dialed in.

I have the same issues on my bikes. The bars are so mounted so low the levers can hit the top tube when the bars rotate too far. Personally, I have allowed my top tubes to get scratched, but that’s not ideal.

The best solution I’ve seen is the burly frame protective stickers by All Mountain Style.

Have fun out there,

Lee

9 replies
  1. Peter says:

    Thanks for the response Lee, I will look into the AMS protectors. Scratches I could live with big dents would be more worrying. As a temporary measure I’ve wrapped, with a couple of zip ties, some rubber from an old grip on the top tube at the contact point until I can come up with something more attractive.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:

    Update: After working out how I could setup two level platforms I went through the ‘On Bike’ RAD setup (as you say that supersedes all other methods) and my RAD from the tables was short by about 10mm so I flipped the new bars (Ritchey WCS trail Flat bars can be +/- 5mm rise) and added a 3mm spacer under the stem and the RAD is now spot on. This change means the dropper side (left) now just clears the top tube the Shifter side (Right) I have used some Sugru (moldable rubber) to make a bump stop on the top tube which hopefully will stop and damage.
    Other Figures now are RAAD 58.5° SHO 15mm Leverage Ratio 1.82
    So quite happy with those – now to ride/shred and get used to the changes 🙂

    Reply
  3. Shoji says:

    Hey Lee a couple of questions on RAD/RAAD
    1im measuring my bike RAD vs my height. Should I include my riding shoe height in that calculation?

    I was crazy enough to put a shout on my sb55. Does this crazy fork change RAAD at all since it moves back and up?

    Reply

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