I recently wrote about my experiences testing some high racers. While I really loved the bikes I tested, I think I've decided that I can't quite justify the upgrade (yet). But I very much liked the superman-style open cockpit setup and have been thinking about ways to convert my bike.
As you can see from
this picture, my bike has a fairly short wheelbase and the fork stem is fairly close to the seat in relation to my legs.
I've been thinking of getting a RANS
Flip-It,
stem (
or this stem) and
adjustable open cockpit handlebars.
So my questions are:
- Can the Flip-It be locked at any angle?
- Do you think the handlebars will need to be too far ahead of the steering column for this to work?
- Any better solutions?
I suppose it would be much easier to convert to "praying hamster" style bars. I had these on my previous bike and found them to be ok - quite aero and good bike control. However, I found that I tended to very very sweaty armpits with that closed position - and based on my brief test rides it seems like open cockpit would not have the same problem.