Handlebar position

In article <[email hidden]>, Mark H.

Quoted message said:

Pursuant to my own and some other current threads, I'd like to raise the bars up an inch and back
from a 9 to an 8cm. stem on my Lemond. To what extent will this effect handling?

I'm sure that depends a great deal on you and how you fit your bike and what type of riding you do.
On my bike, I recently lowered and lengthened the stem a bit and find that the front of the bike
handles a lot better when cornering on descents, it is just easier to command in a corner. I still
have it a lot higher than I used to on smaller frames, and I am still sitting pretty upright
compared to the pro peleton.

Other things I found from raising the stem -

Raising the stem may cause you to sit differently on your saddle and may help or hurt you in soft
places. The more you sit upright the harder it is to suspend yourself with your legs. You can
visualize this by assuming your riding position without the bicycle. You can't easily lift yourself
up if you are sitting with your back upright and your knees bent. I find the bumps are a little more
jarring when seated that way. When a little more leaned forward I can easily float off the saddle
for half a second to let the bike hit a bump with less weight on the back.

Raising the stem will cause you to work your muscles differently and may give you less power as you
increase your quads' share of the work.

I think comfort comes first so I don't worry about power very much but there are definitely
trade-offs. You need to experiment with the changes to see whether it solves your problems without
creating significant side-effects.

--Paul