Moving the Handle Bars on a Trek Madone 5.2

Brett Amundson has a very nice, new Trek Madone 5.2 and wants to raise the handle bars, his problem is that it is a different system to his old bike, so we run through what he can do and how he can do it.

Question: I recently purchased a new “Trek Madone 5.2″ and need to raise the handle bars. My other bikes have an adjustable “headset”, however it would seem the Madone 5.2 is fixed or requires a tool that I may not have. Do I need to purchase a new, longer headset in order to raise the handle bars?

Thanks, Brett.

Hi Brett,

That’s a nice choice of bike you have there and your problem is quite common problem for people who have bought a new bike with an “A-Head Set” and matching stem fitting arrangement, we run through what can be done and how to do it.

You don’t say if it is the new Trek Madone 5.2 Pro or last years Trek Madone SL 5.2, but it doesn’t make any difference to how you adjust the height of your handle bars.

OK look at the stem of your bike, there should be a bolt on the top of the stem, undo this and take it and the cap off, and then loosen the two bolts at the back of the stem then you can lift the stem off. Before you do this look to see if there is enough of the steering column to allow you to lift the stem a little. You don’t say how much you want to higher it, if it is only a few millimeters then place a spacer of the required size below the stem. If the steering column has not been cut down then there maybe spacers above the stem, if so then just take one from the above the stem and place it bellow.

07 Madone 5.2

If you want to raise the bars by a lot, and then try by turning the stem over, obviously you will need to take the Handle bars out, then turn the stem over and refit the bars, I think the stem is front loading so you don’t need to remove the brake/gear levers.

Now you need to put it all back together, put the stem back on the steering column and replace the top cap and bolt and tighten it down (at this point don’t tighten the two bolts on the back of the stem), tighten the top bolt until the there is no looseness in the headset, the bars should turn smoothly, not tight and not loose and should not feel loose when you pull the brakes. When you have that all adjusted properly then you can tighten the two back bolts making sure that the stem is straight to the front wheel.

08 Madone 5.2

That’s how you do the job, is the bars are still not high enough then you need to look for a stem with more up angle to it and then carry out the process I have described to fit it. Nice bike Brett, look after it.