stems

gmccombe804

hey, i was wondering. my current stem is a 110mm and i had to turn the hoods towards me to make it more comfortable, but i want a shorter one for christmas, so i was thinking of buying a 90mm...but would 2cm really make that much of a difference that i can twist the handle bar to a more aeordynamic position but still be comfortable,

crankycrank

Yes, for some that is a huge difference. Hard to know from here what size you need but even 1cm can be very noticable. Try to find a try before you buy or possible exchange policy seller.

gmccombe804

thanks,

YIMan

Do you have an angled stem - it's worth flipping it (presumably up) to see if that makes a difference before you buy a new one - it could be that the stem is too low rather than too long. Also check the configuration of the stem spacers to see if you can get yourself more comfortable that way too.

diy

or move your seat a tiny bit forward.

rgliniany

my new stem is 10mm shorter than the old one.............. i dont get any lower back pain at all now...

diy

rgliniany wrote:

my new stem is 10mm shorter than the old one.............. i dont get any lower back pain at all now...

I hope you don't mind me posting your pic, but that setup looks very odd.

napoleond

Whatever you do, DON'T adjust your saddle position to account for reach. Your saddle position is the most important measurement. Adjust your reach accordingly. It may be worth looking at a bar with short reach and drop such as Deda RHM models. They can reduce reach by up to 3cm compared to some bars!

peat

I find myself using the bits of bar nearest the stem towards the end of a ride to relieve my back. I have a 110mm stem and have my saddle pretty far forward. I was thinking of going to 90mm so i could move the saddle back a touch.

I've heard that shortening the stem changes the handling characteristics significantly. True?

napoleond

diy wrote:

rgliniany wrote:

my new stem is 10mm shorter than the old one.............. i dont get any lower back pain at all now...

I hope you don't mind me posting your pic, but that setup looks very odd.

The frame looks at least one size too small.

Pickled Pig

gmccombe804 wrote:

hey, i was wondering. my current stem is a 110mm and i had to turn the hoods towards me to make it more comfortable, but i want a shorter one for christmas, so i was thinking of buying a 90mm...but would 2cm really make that much of a difference that i can twist the handle bar to a more aeordynamic position but still be comfortable,

I did exactly this on my last bike and it was a big improvement.

Peat wrote:

I've heard that shortening the stem changes the handling characteristics significantly. True?

The shorter stem made riding with no hands very twitchy as the inertia of the bars is reduced. Not noticeable in normal riding position though.

mkviken

i had a bike fit and was happy with it but felt i wanted to be lower down and i always felt the stem was too long for me.


i flipped my 120mm stem as felt i wanted to be lower on the bars but felt to stretched though the height felt good.

my bike fitter said a 100mm stem flipped would be worth a try.


just fitted it a 100mm stem last night and early tests i feel less stretched out, less weight on my wrists and at a posture i wanted.

have a look on this and get some ideas of how things will change



http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php


120 up - looked pretty wrong.


120 flipped - felt better was a bit too but stretched out


100mm stem. so far feels good.

mkviken

gmccombe804 wrote:

hey, i was wondering. my current stem is a 110mm and i had to turn the hoods towards me to make it more comfortable, but i want a shorter one for christmas, so i was thinking of buying a 90mm...but would 2cm really make that much of a difference that i can twist the handle bar to a more aeordynamic position but still be comfortable,

be careful how you rotate the bars, if the stem is wrong and your compensating by adjusting the rotation of the bars you can leave yourself with poorly placed levers

also you can make the drops really uncomfortable by rotating the bars up and the levers will be out of reach

20mm difference in stem length makes a huge difference in comfort and positioning.

also remmeber you can play around with the spacers to raise or lower the bars

Mikey23

Crikey, if I brought my bike into the lounge, missus would flay me alive ....

1_reaper

I've a spare 110 & 90 if needed. Nothing flash just Bonty RXL

diy

my road bike lives in the dining room unless its being worked on then it goes in the garage. I don't quite know how I got away with this - probably dates back to the turbo trainer. But like a 1st world war general I feel to many sacrifices were made to give up the territory now.