Can someone confirm that a stem's angle of rise (positive / negative) is the angle measured from the steerer tube ?
i.e. a -ve 6 degree / 84 degree stem is 6 degrees from being perpendicular to the steerer tube ??? ........... and a zero degree stem is at 90 degrees to the steerer tube / head tube. ???
Trying to work out whether I've been wrong all these years.
A friend is telling me it's measured from the vertical, but this would not be a true indication of the stem's final position .... as different bikes have different head tube angles ..... right ??
Hope I'm right... not very good at eating humble pie......
PS.....
Ritchey WCS road stem or Cinelli Groove ?? What would you choose ?
Stem angles can be measured in relation to the headtube angle or the horizontal plane so a 0 degree stem could be either +17 degrees from horizontal (for a 73 degree headtube) or completely horizontal. I think most are measured in relation to the headtube. It makes more sense. Who cares what the absolute angle of the stem is in relation to horizontal. Headtubes only vary by a few degrees anyways so it's not going to make much difference. Many stems now are such that you can flip them over so that a +/- 10 degree stem can have either a 7 or 27 degree rise.
I've seen some stems advertised as 10 degrees and others as 80 degrees (one measured from the horizontal and the other from vertical) - I assume these are the same and the angle when mounted on the bike would be relative to the angle the steerer tube is at.
Originally posted by cpa Can someone confirm that a stem's angle of rise (positive / negative) is the angle measured from the steerer tube ?
i.e. a -ve 6 degree / 84 degree stem is 6 degrees from being perpendicular to the steerer tube ??? ........... and a zero degree stem is at 90 degrees to the steerer tube / head tube. ???
Trying to work out whether I've been wrong all these years.
A friend is telling me it's measured from the vertical, but this would not be a true indication of the stem's final position .... as different bikes have different head tube angles ..... right ??
Hope I'm right... not very good at eating humble pie......
PS.....
Ritchey WCS road stem or Cinelli Groove ?? What would you choose ?
Thanks
your friend is wrong.It's measured relative to the steerer tube. 90 is perpindicular to the tube and is also stated as a 0. 80 is also a -10. 100 is also a +10. There is not enough difference in road head tube tube angles to matter. Just for reference, the old road stems were 73 or -17, which made them appear parallel to the ground, and to many retro types,,that is the only way a stem should be.
Originally posted by dorian Stem angles can be measured in relation to the headtube angle or the horizontal plane so a 0 degree stem could be either +17 degrees from horizontal (for a 73 degree headtube) or completely horizontal.
Dorian
It cannot be both. Standard reference is to the steerer. The old road standard was 73 or -17 which was parallel to the ground.
Ritchey WCS road stem or Cinelli Groove ?? What would you choose ?
Thanks
Those 2 selections are fine stems but my choice is Thompson Elite. The additional few grams of weight for me are worth the piece of mind. (May be a long shot but thats one potential catastrophic failure you want to avoid at all costs). 😉
Originally posted by Cipher Those 2 selections are fine stems but my choice is Thompson Elite. The additional few grams of weight for me are worth the piece of mind. (May be a long shot but thats one potential catastrophic failure you want to avoid at all costs). 😉
My 2 cents on the choice - if you have to choose from those two, pick the Ritchey if you want stiffness, pick the cinelli if you like (or will tolerate) a little compliance. I have to admit the groove looks WAY cool I've ridden both. I also have a Deda Magic (31.8 bar) that is rock-solid, but a bit long for me so I fitted the ritchey WCS (also for 31.8 bar)and it too is rock-solid, and I prefer the 4-bolt clamp for stiffness. see www.roadbikereview.com for reviews on all three.
