Bike posture...

Do you have clip-on aerobars? If so, you won't need to remove the stem - they have screws/bolts on them which attach them to the handlebars.

if you have a wing setup and want to take the bars off, once you unscrew the nut on the stem and lift off the spacers, you can just lift (with a bit of force, but not much) the bars off the stem.

As for the fit, could you post a picture?

They're clip ons - I want to raise the stem....Don't need to take the clip ons off to do so, my problem seemed to be, when I loosened the screw, the didn't budge..will I need to put on more spacers if I can loosen it?

If possible, post a picture of your bar setup. It would be much easier to correct that way.
>Fred

If they're cilp-ons, you'd have to raise your entire handlebar setup with spacers...as far as I know, you can't raise only the aerobars. But yeah, if you could post a pic that would be very helpful.

Don't have one on me....I will try to post tonight. I understand that I need to raise the setup. That's where I am having the trouble. I loosen the center screw on top of the stem....it actually comes all the way out, but they don't budge......is there another step I am not understanding here??

If you're trying to raise the stem/bars up off the steerer tube, there are probably 2 screws on the stem that are clamped down, holding it onto the tube so that it doesn't slide around willy-nilly. They should be near the tube...they will need to be loosened before you can move the bars.

I am probably using the wrong terminology....I WANT TO MOVE THE WHOLE THING UP! Period. Raise the whole shebang towards the sky....right now when I sit on the bike on my trainer and go to get in the aerobars, I am folded like a taco....I can't get my breath...and I am not this extremely overweight person.....so the problem seems to be that I need the bars...I mean, bars, aeros...the whole enchilada higher. When I unscrew that center screw that I look down on a the top of the tube that goes in the hole in the bike frame.....nothing gets loose. Get it?

I gotcha. I think this is what you're looking for. On the pic below, at the back of the stem, the word Specialized is written vertically in white letters, right next to the steerer tube. There are 2 screws behind it and the tube that you need to loosen. Once those screws and the one in the tube are loose, remove the spacers and the bars. Then you can set them to whatever level you'd like - spacers underneath for more height, above for less.

It seems you may be confusing with having a bike with a separate handle bar stem that fits down into your head tube. On the bike you have now, it is one solid piece that it attached to your front fork. This can not be raised. If you have spacers above your stem between the bars and screw cap, you need to remove your bars and move the spacers under the stem, then reattach the bars. How far you can raise the bars depends on the amount of extra stem length you have.
>Fred

That's what I was going for. And for some reason I couldn't attach the picture I was hoping to.

Ok...it's all coming together now. I think there are 3 spacers in there already and it doesn't seem I can raise them any further. I can't imagine my seat has to go down, but maybe it does. In short I need to go get sized, but I wanted to get on there a few more times before next week. It's crazy uncomfortable now...and I don't mind pain all that much. My taint had it last time on only a 1 hour run. Feels like all the pressure is on there rather than the seat. I'm a mess.

It sounds like your stem is as high as it's going to go. If the current stem is configured so that it angles down, you can remove the handle bars and flip the stem over to raise the bar height. Otherwise you'll need to replace the stem with one that has a greater angle. There are also adjustable stems.

Depending on your aero bars you may be able to raise them separate from the handle bars. You'll need a riser block that fits your clip-on configuration.

When putting aero bars on a road bike I strongly encourage people to go with a shorter bar, or cut the bar down.

To shorten the cockpit and you can look at replacing your seat post. I'm not a fan of the Profile Fast Forward (put's you too far forward IMHO), but a Thomson set-back post turned around works well. A zero set-back post will also put you a little closer if your current post has any set-back to it (most do).

These are all things that a good fitter will address.

In the meantime you may want to stick to the trainer and just sit up. It will still get some "miles" into your legs.

scott

Thanks for the info....makes sense. That's what I did (basically sat up) on the bars while riding. Still feel, what seems to be, an incredible ammount of pressure on the crotchial area. Looking at it last night, I might be on the climbing block on a slight incline too. I am sure that would affect the region. I appreciate everyone's help here. I know it's confusing without seeing a pic
kp