Stem rise

Quoted message said:

My bike came with a 17 degree stem which I have flipped and turned into
a -17 degree stem. While I noticed on Bontragers site that the stem can
be flipped I'm wondering if I have adversely affected the way my bike
will handle? Besides I think that the +17 degree setup was a bit too
much for me but the -17 degree adjustment is a bit too extreme as well.
Would a good compromise be a 10 degree stem rise?

Javier

Or don't bother changing the stem at all... just take one of the spacers
from the bottom and put it on top, to see how it fits you. But don't get
hung up on handling issues from having the stem flipped one way or the
other. For the most part it's about comfort, which is tied into weight
distribution to a greater degree than handling is.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Hey Mike,

I tried the spacer adjustment but my best friend went numb after about
an hour of riding and it's a bit un-nerving when you get off the bike
and feel as if your buddy is missing. 🙂 With the stem above all the
spacers nothing seems to go numb int he lower half of my body.

Since I'm fairly new to road bikes I wanted to be sure that I didn't
mess anything up by flipping the stem.

Javier

Javier said:

Hey Mike,

I tried the spacer adjustment but my best friend went numb after about
an hour of riding and it's a bit un-nerving when you get off the bike
and feel as if your buddy is missing. 🙂 With the stem above all the
spacers nothing seems to go numb int he lower half of my body.

Since I'm fairly new to road bikes I wanted to be sure that I didn't
mess anything up by flipping the stem.

Javier

It's true that a bike's handling can be adversely affected by stems
that are really short, long, tall, low, etc. This is mentioned in a lot
of places, but in the process of trying to figure all this [censored] out I
never once saw any more elaboration given beyond that regarding how
short/tall/whatever is too much, unless it was someone trying to lay
out their own universal rules of bike fit that didn't hold up to
reality anyway. The only real rule is that if the handling doesn't feel
messed up to you then don't worry about it.

A lot of adjustment can be made for your comfort by trying various stems,
don't get hang up on what looks cool. -17 is a bit much, many fine middle
quality stems (by Profile Design, TTT, etc. ) have 5-10 degree reversible
configurations and are available in 10mm increments, normally from about
120mm-130mm long down to 50mm-60mm. See if a LBS will let you try several on
he road, or if not at least in their shop. At the same time adjust your sear
forward and back to match up with the stem, though having the sear back may
give a very subtle bit more peddling power.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

My bike came with a 17 degree stem which I have flipped and turned into
a -17 degree stem. While I noticed on Bontragers site that the stem can
be flipped I'm wondering if I have adversely affected the way my bike
will handle? Besides I think that the +17 degree setup was a bit too
much for me but the -17 degree adjustment is a bit too extreme as well.
Would a good compromise be a 10 degree stem rise?

Javier

Javier said:

My bike came with a 17 degree stem which I have flipped and turned into
a -17 degree stem. While I noticed on Bontragers site that the stem can
be flipped I'm wondering if I have adversely affected the way my bike
will handle?

Well, does it? I assume you have ridden it. BUT I think an 84 degree,
in either direction, will be a good compromise. Riitchey is a good
choice.

Besides I think that the +17 degree setup was a bit too

Quoted message said:

much for me but the -17 degree adjustment is a bit too extreme as well.
Would a good compromise be a 10 degree stem rise?

Javier

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 02:34:05 -0600, [email hidden] (rs)

Quoted message said:

At the same time adjust your sear forward and back to match up with
the stem, though having the sear back may give a very subtle bit more
peddling power.

I don't believe that it is a good idea to adjust your saddle forward
or back for reasons of reach. The saddle should be adjusted in regards
to the position of the pedals and bottom bracket. The saddle position
should be resolved first, then independently work on stem length,
height, and rise. Here see what Sheldon says about saddle adjustment,
related to the above:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html#frontback

For the OP, there is lots of helpful info to be found here:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html

Also, here is some helpful info on stems:
http://www.habcycles.com/fitting.html

As Peter mentioned, Ritchey makes some very nice stems in a variety of
price ranges. I use a WCS in 100mm with a 6 degree rise, not that it
matters, related to your fit

Jeffrey Starr
All rights to the above text is reserved. No use
outside of rec.bicycle.tech, without express written
permission..

I figured there were no hard and fast rules about it. I may take a ride
by my LBS and swap them my stem for a 5 or 8 deree stem. This should do
the trick as +17 degrees puts me in too high of a position and -17
degrees is a bit low.

Javier said:

Hey Mike,

I tried the spacer adjustment but my best friend went numb after about
an hour of riding and it's a bit un-nerving when you get off the bike
and feel as if your buddy is missing. 🙂 With the stem above all the
spacers nothing seems to go numb int he lower half of my body.

Since I'm fairly new to road bikes I wanted to be sure that I didn't
mess anything up by flipping the stem.

Javier

There is no difference in moving shims or flipping stems. Both move the
bar height relative to the rest of the bike. The only issue is if it is
a carbon steerer, in which case there are restrictions in heights of
shims, especially above the stem.

David

Quoted message said:

I tried the spacer adjustment but my best friend went numb after about
an hour of riding and it's a bit un-nerving when you get off the bike
and feel as if your buddy is missing. 🙂 With the stem above all the
spacers nothing seems to go numb int he lower half of my body.

Since I'm fairly new to road bikes I wanted to be sure that I didn't
mess anything up by flipping the stem.

Javier

I think you misunderstood my point. Let's say you have a Trek, LeMond or
Klein (fairly likely since you've got a Bontrager stem, and besides, I think
I recall reading that you had a 1200?). Then you've got 4 cm of spacers
underneath the stem, possibly a 2cm, 1cm and (2) .5cm. With a 17-degree
stem, you can accomplish just about any height between really low (no
spacers under the stem, stem turned "down"😉 and pretty high (all spacers
under the stem, stem turned "up"😉.

All it takes is a bit of creativity in spacer placement and stem
orientation. There's no need to buy a new stem of 7 or 10 or whatever
degrees, unless you want to do so for cosmetic reasons. If you need a
different length, that's another issue.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Thanks Mike,

I'm not too much into the cosmetic thing, I worry more about comfort
and performance.

Javier said:

I tried the spacer adjustment but my best friend went numb after about
an hour of riding and it's a bit un-nerving when you get off the bike
and feel as if your buddy is missing. 🙂 With the stem above all the
spacers nothing seems to go numb int he lower half of my body.

You probably need to adjust the tilt of your saddle to accomodate the
change in handlebar location. That might have something to do with your
numbness.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu