Road Cycling - Stem question and help

I have a Bianchi Brava and it has a quill type stem on it. I like the feel of the bike but i feel a bit stretched out when on the hoods. I was thinking of replacing the quill stem with a threadless stem and putting on a shorter stem with a TINY bit of rise, maybe help me sit up and not feel so stretched out. Now my question is how short should i go? How do i measure the stem i got now to determine the length, where do i start and stop measuring? Alson, how much rise should i give it...i guess that depends on the length as well...anyways does this sound like a good starting plan?

Well, what are your reasons for wanting to go threadless? Unless you plan on changing forks and headsets too, I'd say just stick with the a quill-type stem. Nothing wrong with a quill.

I guess the only reason i was going threadless was to pick and choose the type of stem i was going to use. I understand that a quill stem seems easier to use. I just maybe want to bring the bars in a little bit to get comfortable

Well, if that's all you want to do, I'd say just stick with a quill. There are still plenty of choices out there if you aren't going threadless. I dig both systems, personally.

True, i just saw that the threadless adapater for the quill tem was only 20 bucks. This meaning you use a quill system but then bolt on a threadless stem. Looked pretty neat...ill find a link

the link to the threadless stem adapater....... http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=119&subcategory=1185&brand=&sku=9755&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

If you're looking to figure out relative stem sizing, you might want to check out this chart (http://www.habcycles.com/fitting.html).

http://www.habcycles.com/stemfit.jpg

Is it too silly to suggest that you could probably just move your STIs up the bars a bit? :)

If you're looking to figure out relative stem sizing, you might want to check out this chart (http://www.habcycles.com/fitting.html).

Khuon, Nice find on chart. I've book marked it for future use. Mark Hickey is the greatest. Thanks.

Is it too silly to suggest that you could probably just move your STIs up the bars a bit? :)

Or even just rotate the whole bar up.

Why not fit a shorter quill stem, they are commonly available from 6-12cm in length. You measure center-to-centre. You can also raise them as far as the safety line.
Threadless adaptors just add weight and complication, and give you none of the real advantages of threadless (ie lightweight adjustment tools).
Moving your brakes up the bars will make it harder to use the drops.

Yeah i thought about moving the STI hoods up on the bar (not sure how i would go about that) but i dont want to rotate the whole bar up some because i would think it would leave me stretched out in the drops...and now that i think about it...it just might be better to move the STI's up because if i could a shorter stem im thinking it would cramp me up in the drops

Hammer,
If it is adjustability you want then stay w/ the quill stem they are much better imo. I went from a 120mm stem to a 100cm and it was absolutly perfect after that. I think a reduction any more then that and you may be out of luck. I would suggest trying to borrow a 100 for a few rides and see if that works out. You can get riser quill stems too.

When you are in a comfortable riding position, look down at your front hub, it should be hidden behind the tops of your handlebar. If the hub is behind the top of the handlbar, the stem is too long. If the hub is in front of the top of the handlebar, your stem is too short. This is a rule of thumb that works for me, but this may not work for you. :rolleyes: Check that your knees don't hit the top of the handlebar when you stand. Most of the threadless stems have bolts on the back of the stem that holds the stem to the fork...on my set up, these bolts scratch my knees when I rock the bike when standing. :mad:

How much difference would a 120mm stem be from a 110 or a 100?

How much difference would a 120mm stem be from a 110 or a 100?

When I first got my roadbike, I really didn't know what I was doing so I spec'ed a 120mm stem since that's what I had on my MTB. I found that the stem was way too long and when the bike shop was doing a fitting for me, suggested I go with a 90mm stem. In the past couple of years I've started feeling more and more cramped. I think my form has changed. I recently swapped back in my old 120mm stem and it's starting to feel more comfortable but it's still a tad long. I think I'm going to end up going to a 110mm... maybe a 105mm if I can find it. The one thing I noticed is that climbing hills seem a little more stable with the longer stem. The 90mm always made climbing a bit twitchy.

I turned my handlebars up a tad bit to see if that made a difference when riding on the hoods, I figured it would be easier than moving the hoods up on the bars. I guess im just playing it bit by bit, see what works and what doesnt...just wanted to see if there is a noticeable difference between a 120mm stem and 110mm stem