Compact bars & bike fit. Simple question?

dieselgeezer

I'm going to change my road bars to compact. The drop is 125mm & the reach is 65mm. My existing bars have a reach of 95mm. To keep my bike fit dims the same, should I use a 30mm longer stem? Seems logical but the stem will need to go fron 100mm to 130mm which seems quite a jump.

imposter2.0

which begs the question - why are you fitting compact bars..?

dieselgeezer

Simple. To reduce the drop.

imposter2.0

How many spacers do you have under the stem?

dieselgeezer

Bars are as high as they will go. 40mm spacers below. I want to keep the tops at the same level; the compact drops mean I'll be able to use them whereas at the moment the existing bars are too deep to be comfy.

keezx

Drops are not for comfort, but to reduce air-resistance.

mamba80

why don't you get some 3t ergosum bars? the reach is similar -89mm - to your current setup and the drop is 128mm so your set up will be v similar to what you want.
fitting a 130 stem would keep the reach the same but the tops of the bar would be 30mm further away.

they are great bars, I have them on all my bikes.

Anonymous

And your steering would be very different, not to mention make the bike look a bit pants perhaps.

Another vote for 3t bars here.
Are you happy with the width of your current bars? If not you can tweak that too.

thegreatdivide

Keezx wrote:

Drops are not for comfort, but to reduce air-resistance.

If your bike is fitted properly you can ride for long periods in the drops quite comfortably.

crikey

Just change the bars.
If you feel a bit cramped, use a longer stem.

The whole bike fit to the millimetre thing is wildly over done, usually by people who are a bit simple.

passout

Change the bars to compacts first, ride for a while and then consider stem length. Look at Deda RHM bars from Ribble cycles or Planet X Strada maybe - both well under 20 quid, OK weight and very comfy. Even the cheap Deda bars look & feel great. You can then get a matching Deda stem if needed.