Cutting and Re-configuring Bicycle Handle Bars for Unusually Tall Riders... on a Budget!

I am an unusually tall person, a little over 6'7". This comes with its downsides, including difficulties finding bicycles that comfortably fit my body. In this instructable, I will be outlining the steps I took to modify the handlebars on a new (to me) bicycle that was recently given to me. The handlebars were just too darn short for the comfort of my lower back, and they were in the way of my knees when I wanted to peddle or turn, both of which are sort of important for operating a bicycle.

before you begin, make sure you have appropriate safety equipment. Here we have an auto darkening welding hood, a set of light welding gloves, and a suede couch which is here mostly for morale support.

Cost of materials:

Bike $0 (it was gifted to me)

Cut off wheel $0 (it was also gifted to me)

Bench grinder used to clean up cut ends of pipe prior to welding $0 (it was a gift too)

Used 110v welder $25 (found on FB Marketplace)

I estimate that less than $1 of flux cored welding wire was consumed during this project.

Total project cost $1 and 2 hours goofing around in my garage.

Being the unusually tall and unusual person that I am, I already had all of these supplies lying around my home and workshop.

...But having a bicycle that fits me comfortably? Priceless.

The first steps were to remove the handle bars from the bike and mark the spots I meant to cut.

I used a 3 inch cut off wheel to cut the pipe at what I estimated at a 45 degree angle. I didn't have a tool to measure or mark that as well as I would have liked so I had to do some eyeballing.

My cuts were relatively clean, but the angles were slightly off so I corrected this by shaving a bit off the high spots with a bench grinder.

This step is the final test fitting before welding it all back together. In step 3 I had to correct the angle of the cuts, in step 4 I had to compensate for errors made while eyeballing in step 3 but also to get the correct rotation of each side piece so they would have the same height when welded back together. This results in a few gaps in the weld joint, but this is not a major issue as the mig welding process can compensate for gaps and fill them with molten metal.

This goofy little twist of wire is called a birds nest, it is a common malfunction with this type of welding machine. It usually happens when the hose liner is full of shop dust/grit and the extra friction causes the wire to bunch up between the rollers and the opening of the liner. Simply cut the wire and pull the section still in the hose liner out, then feed the undamaged wire into the liner and close the drive roller wheel assembly and get back to your fun project.

BONUS: if you happen to have an air compressor, sometimes it helps to reduce the frequency of this if you blow pressurized air through the liner before you feed fresh welding wire into it again.

In total, I had 3 of these malfunctions during this project. This is the first project I have used this welding machine for, I think I will be replacing the hose and liner before trying to build anything else with it.

Re-welding, and post weld clean up... This was the fastest to actually complete but also the most critical to do well. I did not have any additional material to make a replacement if I goofed this part up, but thankfully it worked out ok.

The bike is put back together and ready to be tested out.

It was not as tall as I had hoped it would be, but the different angle of the handlebars gives my legs more than enough room to move, even while turning. I will be adding a riser to the steering stem in a later instructable. All in all, I am pleased with how this turned out.