My new bike! I need help

[thomasward00]

Well I have finally decided and bought my first mountainbike, I'm very happy but, I want to make the handlebars lower to the frame, I spoke with gary fisher rep and he told me that I could bring my bike to my dealer and they can cut the steering tube, or should I get a straight stem to bring the bars forward? it's just that those spacers that they use from the factory are ugly. Also if i get the steering tube cut, will it mess up the bike geometry? I notice that the higher end hardtails, the stem and handlebars are closer to the frame. Any advice would be helpful. Here is my bike.

http://www.fisherbikes.com/bikes/large_image.asp?series=classic&bike=Advance

 

[Hecubus]

Originally posted by thomasward00
Well I have finally decided and bought my first mountainbike, I'm very happy but, I want to make the handlebars lower to the frame, I spoke with gary fisher rep and he told me that I could bring my bike to my dealer and they can cut the steering tube, or should I get a straight stem to bring the bars forward? it's just that those spacers that they use from the factory are ugly. Also if i get the steering tube cut, will it mess up the bike geometry? I notice that the higher end hardtails, the stem and handlebars are closer to the frame. Any advice would be helpful. Here is my bike.

http://www.fisherbikes.com/bikes/large_image.asp?series=classic&bike=Advance

The reason all those spacers come from the factory is precislely to give the customer more flexibility on how high they want the bars. They steerer is meant to be cut once you find the prefered height. You can also go with a lower rise stem such as a 5 or 0 degree which will accomplish the same result. You can also move the spacers around and test different heights before commiting to cutting the tube. Just move some of the spacers to the top of the stem under the top cap temporarily.