Which stem

rogerv1978

hi all I had a bike fit the other day and was advised to get a shorter stem, I have been looking on chain reaction/wiggle etc but dont know enough about the makes to know which one to choose ?
I dont know whether the ones around £20-30 are perfectly fine or whether I need to be paying the higher prices ?
Any info welcome, TIA

jonny_trousers

It pretty much comes down to tiny differences in weight and the look you like and whether you want it to match your bar/seatpost or not. If you want good looking, good quality and pretty good price then the Deda stems are well worth a look.

rogerv1978

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

It pretty much comes down to tiny differences in weight and the look you like and whether you want it to match your bar/seatpost or not. If you want good looking, good quality and pretty good price then the Deda stems are well worth a look.

ok I'm really glad you've said that as they were the ones I've been looking at to match my bike and they look really nice and they are reasonably priced so thats ideal for me ! The only other thing is that one I was looking at had 2 choices of degree adjustment, there was one with 6 degrees and one with 17 degrees, I'm assuming I don't need 17 degrees of adjustment for the general riding that I do ?

markhewitt1978

What stems are you looking at? Most don't have any adjustment at all. Excepting for turning them upside down.

jonny_trousers

Yeah, you don't want 17 degrees. 6 is fine.

freebs

Surely the people who did the bike fit will have advised you exactly what you need? If they haven't then speak to them again!

Mad_Malx

freebs wrote:

Surely the people who did the bike fit will have advised you exactly what you need? If they haven't then speak to them again!

Yes, you need to sort this, to know which way up to put your stem. These can be flipped so they point 6 degrees up or down - it doesn't sound like much but can make several cm difference in the height, depending on stem length.

+1 for Deda - the zero looks nice and under £20. I really can't understand why anyone would want to pay £100 plus for a very simple part - I very much doubt there is any perceptible difference for most people. Deda say on the packaging they are only for Deda bars, which is bollx, but make sure you get one of the right bar diameter - usually 31.8mm "oversize bars" (but most common now) 26mm (italian) or 25.4mm for most of the rest.

rogerv1978

Mad_Malx wrote:

freebs wrote:

Surely the people who did the bike fit will have advised you exactly what you need? If they haven't then speak to them again!

Yes, you need to sort this, to know which way up to put your stem. These can be flipped so they point 6 degrees up or down - it doesn't sound like much but can make several cm difference in the height, depending on stem length.

+1 for Deda - the zero looks nice and under £20. I really can't understand why anyone would want to pay £100 plus for a very simple part - I very much doubt there is any perceptible difference for most people. Deda say on the packaging they are only for Deda bars, which is bollx, but make sure you get one of the right bar diameter - usually 31.8mm "oversize bars" (but most common now) 26mm (italian) or 25.4mm for most of the rest.

Yeah the guy who did the fit did turn my existing stem upside down and adjusted my handle bars but advised that I would be better off getting a slightly shorter stem going from the existing at 90mm to an 80mm stem but didnt specify a particular make, which I could have possibly asked for recommendations ? Once I have the new one he said I could pop back and get him to set it up for me correctly (putting it on the correct way etc) and do anymore fine adjustments to myself on the bike, only charging me his hourly rate and not another full bike fit charge, I know him really well and he is a genuine guy ? Sounds like the deda is the one to go for as it will fit in with my bike really well and doesnt cost the earth ! Thanks for the replys guys !

rogerv1978

Hi again the only other query I have is the size, when we measured my existing one, it was from the steerer bolt to the middle of the handle bar fixing point, if that makes sense or should it be measured all the way to the front ? As I want to make sure I get the right size ?I have tried to find specs on my bike which I have done as its this years model but the only measurement they give is the 31.8mm for the handle bar ? Thanks again ?

andrewjoseph

They are measured center to center, center of stem bolt to center of bars.

rogerv1978

andrewjoseph wrote:

They are measured center to center, center of stem bolt to center of bars.

Great, thanks for all your help guys !