stem length

foo-fighter

Been thinking about getting a new stem for my bike as i feel way to stretched out on the bike with the current 120mm standard stem. i have heard that a very short stem cam affect handling, im thinking of getting a deda zero 1 80mm, would this be to short?
thanks
Si

Bobbinogs

80mm is about as short as I would go from experience and prefer 90 as an actual min. However, dropping from 120 to 80 is quite a drop and you may find that the one you buy is not quite the right length anyway. Why not look around on ebay for some cheap options, say 110, 100 and 90 and give them a go. When you know the right length you could buy something bling and relist the ones you have tried without any real loss (or keep them for another day).

sancho1983

How easy is it to change a stem? Do you have to re-tape the bars and stuff?

Gizmodo

There's a 110 stem for sale in the Classifieds if you want to give that a go
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40049&t=12854575

ForumNewbie

sancho1983 wrote:

How easy is it to change a stem? Do you have to re-tape the bars and stuff?

Easy to change a stem - doesn't affect bar tape at all. You should try flipping your own stem first, i.e. unscrewing it and turning it upside down, which will make it higher and not so much of a stretch. That worked for me on my new bike - most stems have about a 6 degree variation from the 90 degree angle, depending on which way up you fix them - it doesn't look a lot but once you 'flip' it the other way it makes quite a difference.

houndlegs

I recently changed from 100mm stem to a 80mm and I can't notice any difference whatsoever in handling,but it has made it comfier for me.

giropaul

A very short, or very long, stem will alter the handling, but you'll very quickly adjust to it. 80 isn't outside the normal parameters anyway.

The right length is the right length. However, if you find you need a very short stem you may need to ask yourself if the top tube is too long for you, or the saddle (in the right position) too far back.

The best answer is, as always, to get a good bike fit; but an experienced club rider will, I'm sure, be able to point you in the right direction about whether or not your position seems about right.

bails1310

While not wanting to hyjack this post, I've been looking at the same.

Bike as in the main, comfortable. I've had a full bike fit but get pins and needles in my left hand only, thumb and first finger only, after 40/50 miles and stuggle to shake them off in full after that until I've finished.

Friend mentioned gloves [I've tried quite a few] and also a short stem could help as thinks I'm resting too much weight on my hands. Current stem is 110m and thinks a 90mm would make a difference.

I try and swap positions regularly too - any thoughts on if this wil assist?

Cheers,
Neil

houndlegs

bails1310 wrote:

While not wanting to hyjack this post, I've been looking at the same.

Bike as in the main, comfortable. I've had a full bike fit but get pins and needles in my left hand only, thumb and first finger only, after 40/50 miles and stuggle to shake them off in full after that until I've finished.

Friend mentioned gloves [I've tried quite a few] and also a short stem could help as thinks I'm resting too much weight on my hands. Current stem is 110m and thinks a 90mm would make a difference.

I try and swap positions regularly too - any thoughts on if this wil assist?

Cheers,
Neil

Try nudging the nose of the saddle up a bit,so you don't put so much pressure on the hands

Rule74Please

houndlegs wrote:

bails1310 wrote:

While not wanting to hyjack this post, I've been looking at the same.

Bike as in the main, comfortable. I've had a full bike fit but get pins and needles in my left hand only, thumb and first finger only, after 40/50 miles and stuggle to shake them off in full after that until I've finished.

Friend mentioned gloves [I've tried quite a few] and also a short stem could help as thinks I'm resting too much weight on my hands. Current stem is 110m and thinks a 90mm would make a difference.

I try and swap positions regularly too - any thoughts on if this wil assist?

Cheers,
Neil

Try nudging the nose of the saddle up a bit,so you don't put so much pressure on the hands

Gloves with NO gel will also help

essjaydee

I've just flipped the stem on my bike, just to see how it feels tomorrow
Took all of 10 minutes
Pictures below of before and after....

aspender

As you can see from those pics, flipping the stem has raised the height of the bars a lot. You already have 3cm of spacers between the headset crown and the stem so your bars are now very high. If you find this comfortable then that's great, but you'll likely be in a very upright position and therefore be causing a lot more wind resistance with your body.

If you find the flipped stem makes you less stretched out then try dropping the stem height (e.g. remove 1cm of spacers from below the stem and put them above instead) gradually (or buy a shorter stem)

Bobbinogs

This is one of my fav links: http://alex.phred.org/stemchart/Default.aspx

Very useful for seeing the effect of mucking about with stems. Reach is the stem length. The spacers bit is the height of spacers above the headtube. Hence, you can modify that, or the stem length or the angle of the stem and compare before/after. Most steerer angles are 73 (ish), btw.

Example: Going from -6 to 6 (flipping) a 100mm stem with 60mm of spacers will make the bar 20mm higher with 6mm less overall reach.

bails1310

Rule74Please wrote:

houndlegs wrote:

bails1310 wrote:

While not wanting to hyjack this post, I've been looking at the same.

Bike as in the main, comfortable. I've had a full bike fit but get pins and needles in my left hand only, thumb and first finger only, after 40/50 miles and stuggle to shake them off in full after that until I've finished.

Friend mentioned gloves [I've tried quite a few] and also a short stem could help as thinks I'm resting too much weight on my hands. Current stem is 110m and thinks a 90mm would make a difference.

I try and swap positions regularly too - any thoughts on if this wil assist?

Cheers,
Neil

Try nudging the nose of the saddle up a bit,so you don't put so much pressure on the hands

Gloves with NO gel will also help

May try as 'with gel' are the only ones I#ve tried - is there a reason why that is?

NITR8s

I had severe aching sholders and neck, so shortend my stem from 100mm stock to the 80mm Deda zero1 stem and it was the best upgrade I have made on my bike so far.

I no longer get the ache, even after 4 and half hours cycling. It was also about 1/3rd the weight of the stem I took off, so weight saving. It also makes the bike look a lot cooler, as the generic one I took off was just plain black.

All of the above for £15.01, got in a mini sale from Wiggle who are now selling it for £20+ again.

essjaydee

aspender wrote:

As you can see from those pics, flipping the stem has raised the height of the bars a lot. You already have 3cm of spacers between the headset crown and the stem so your bars are now very high. If you find this comfortable then that's great, but you'll likely be in a very upright position and therefore be causing a lot more wind resistance with your body.

If you find the flipped stem makes you less stretched out then try dropping the stem height (e.g. remove 1cm of spacers from below the stem and put them above instead) gradually (or buy a shorter stem)

It was too high, as you have said above, so I have been playing with the spacers the last few days and have now found the best position