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Stem too low?...

hopper1hopper1 Posts: 4,389
edited January 2010 in Road beginners
Guys, I lowered my stem today, 15mm. As a result, I couldn't get comfortable on the hoods! Slight pain in the back of right hand, too.
I realise 15mm may have been a bit too much, too soon.
Would a 10mm shorter stem help?
I think rolling the bars, upwards a little, might help.
Ideally, I'd like to keep the stem at this height, if possible... I know it's petty, but I'd prefer no spacers.
What do you reckon? :wink:
Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!

Posts

  • kfinlaykfinlay Posts: 763
    Thats a big change and will put more weight on your hands as I'm sure you'll realise. A shorter stem (or flipping your existing stem) and rolling the bars back a bit will help but you may need to come down 5-10mm at a time and get used to the lower position before reaching you final goal of no spacers.
    Some supplementary core excercises could help too as a strong core helps your overall position and you don't lean on your hands quite so much.

    HTH
    Kev

    Summer Bike: Colnago C60
    Winter Bike: Vitus Alios
    MTB: 1997 GT Karakorum
  • redddraggonredddraggon Posts: 10,862
    As an old bloke you'll probably get a bad back
    I like bikes...

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  • hopper1hopper1 Posts: 4,389
    Thanks guys, much as I thought...

    redddraggon, Don't beat around the bush, mate... sy it as it is!
    I had a discectomy 10 years ago... My back is fantastic, now!

    Will probably go back up one spacer and see how that is, then lower again when/if I get comfy. :wink:
    Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!
  • balthazarbalthazar Posts: 1,565
    Are you changing your position to suit your bike's appearance?!

    If so, that's commitment. But I couldn't recommend it.
  • hopper1hopper1 Posts: 4,389
    Not changing to suit the bike, but still tweaking my position, bit by bit...
    Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!
  • blorgblorg Posts: 1,169
    If it is for aesthetic grounds you could consider a stem with less of an angle. 15mm drop is a big change all right.
  • nolfnolf Posts: 1,287
    Good call my man.
    Flip the stem so it gets even lower.

    Consider getting a longer stem so that you aren't too cramped on the bike.
    "I hold it true, what'er befall;
    I feel it, when I sorrow most;
    'Tis better to have loved and lost;
    Than never to have loved at all."

    Alfred Tennyson
  • softladsoftlad Posts: 3,513
    hopper1 wrote:
    Not changing to suit the bike, but still tweaking my position, bit by bit...

    15mm is hardly 'bit by bit'.....??
  • hopper1hopper1 Posts: 4,389
    softlad wrote:
    hopper1 wrote:
    Not changing to suit the bike, but still tweaking my position, bit by bit...

    15mm is hardly 'bit by bit'.....??

    Yes, I know, but as I haven't spent too much time on the roads recently, I thought I'd make a bigger effort!
    Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!
  • skyd0gskyd0g Posts: 2,540
    hopper1 wrote:
    softlad wrote:
    hopper1 wrote:
    Not changing to suit the bike, but still tweaking my position, bit by bit...

    15mm is hardly 'bit by bit'.....??

    Yes, I know, but as I haven't spent too much time on the roads recently, I thought I'd make a bigger effort!

    Changing the stem height by 15mm in one go may have been something you could have got away with if you'd been riding regularly. With being off the bike for some time, you will probably have lost a good amount of the flexibility you had. :wink:
    Cycling weakly
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