Riser bar or riser stem?

Ok, I finished the overhaul of the bike today, so I can show the before and after of the factory stem and the tall stem I mounted. Position is great, at saddle level (despite what the picture shows) but I must admit it has lost a few points in looks... Oh well...

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Another thing to remember is that not all, in fact many riser bars won't go through a old skool quill stem or a stem with a fixed " pinch" style head on it. The reason is the bends on the bars are not shallow enough to feed round. I've been caught on this one myself a few times!

Open face stems are obviously fine......so just be careful what you pick.
 
Now that I "finished" the bike, I had to post a picture of it. In the end I went for the high stem/flat bar combo, which I prefer aesthetically. Then made the usual trick of mounting something into the stem, in this case a big bell, to hide the high rise.

Apologies to those offended about the big number of accessories. This will be my bike by the in-laws, where most of its duties will be going to the pool with the kids or the Biergarten, with the occasional lame ride in the local woods, so practicality triumphs over factory spec. Original wheels (and stem) have been safely stored (actually swapped with the bike that donated the replacement wheels) so the original bits of the bike will be preserved.

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Now that I "finished" the bike, I had to post a picture of it. In the end I went for the high stem/flat bar combo, which I prefer aesthetically. Then made the usual trick of mounting something into the stem, in this case a big bell, to hide the high rise.

Apologies to those offended about the big number of accessories. This will be my bike by the in-laws, where most of its duties will be going to the pool with the kids or the Biergarten, with the occasional lame ride in the local woods, so practicality triumphs over factory spec. Original wheels (and stem) have been safely stored (actually swapped with the bike that donated the replacement wheels) so the original bits of the bike will be preserved.

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It kind of reminds me of my first ATB (a 1988 Dawes Tracker I bought in the Netherlands where I was born and lived until moving to the UK in 1990). In the Netherlands they were then referred to as All Terrain Bikes, not MTB as the more common moniker.
My '88 Dawes tracker was a lovely green/white frame with Suntour (IIRC) components and fitted with full mudguards and pannier rack as per norm in the Netherlands. Sadly got stolen in 1990.
This Specialized, as per photo is pretty much as you would have bought MTB's in the Netherlands with all kit fitted, Awesome!
 
The specialized looks great, bell included. Probably like most people on this site I also have this issue. Ended up getting a short faceplate quill stem made that I’m thinking of using with Renthal high rise bars.
 
Surprised no-one's put a 24 wheel on the back and a 700 on the front.

Higher bar
Lower bb
Slacker head angle
More post layback
Radical looks

Ideal for the mature rider... surely😉
 
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