Classic & Vintage - Too far of a reach

well i have an older bianchi limited that i just had freshly powered coated. It looks great. It has fully shimano 600 and campy components along with sti shifters.

IT is a bit big for me. Im about 5'6.5 and i have to hunch over quite a bit. No back pain yet.....but i do have the seat all the way forward. I measured with a drop line from my need to the crank at 3oclock and it is in line perfectly. It just feels like i need to strech a bit far to reach the hoods. I have my bars angled down so the are just past pointing to the rear axle and that seems about right.

ONe thing im thinking i could do is get a big shorter stem. Right now i have a UNO stem and from center to center it appears to be around 90 to 95mm with my caliper.

I would be ashame to have to sell the bike after ive put all the work into it. I love riding it but hte cockpit just seems a bit long. im testing it on my trainer now to see if i can tweak it. Ive had it out on 20 mile rides just fine and it works great out of the saddle for climbs etc.

looks like it is a 54cm center to center on seat post. 55 - 55. top tube center to center with headset and seat post.

It is a bit tall for me but i am fairly confident on this bike and things are stable. It doesnt ride like it is Gigantic...which i have had others that have definately been too big...so i know what that feels like. DO they make stems shorter than this?

Id like to find another UNO because it has a cap style end so i wouldnt have to unwrap/rewrap my bars etc just to try another stem.

Any ideas?

Got any photos of how the bike is set up at present?

The stem sounds like the way to go - on the turbo, try to see how far back you need the bars to be. 70 to 80 cm stems are quite easy to find - or if you are really stuck, an adjustable stem might work although it'd probably look strange - as would a stubby MTB style stem on a quill adaptor although that has worked for me in the past until I could find the ITM short stem I was looking for. You might also be able to find handlebars with less reach and/or mount the hoods higher up the bends?

thanks....
ill see if i can snaps some photos in a bit.

right now the levers are about where they should be. bringing them higher into the bends might cause me other issues. Im open to trying it although.......a shorter stem is the way to go for now. im worried that a shorter stem might look funny but hey....what do i know.

i read somewhere that in the riding position a good rule of thumb is that you shouldnt be able to see the front axle hub. That should be canceled out by the stem and you are looking down but it feels like im keeled over just a bit far. WEll...the reach seems far i should say...not that im bent over too far. Right now i cant see the front hub if i have my hands on the hoods while riding.

I guess the bottom line is if the reach is too far currently than this rule wont work :)

I think you're on the right track - IMO if it feels too much of a reach, then it is too much - everyone's different and what feels natural and comfortable is best for you. I have my seat lower and bars higher than many people - about level with each other in fact; due to an old spinal injury I simply can't ride with the saddle more than 1cm higher than the handlebars. It makes some of my bikes look a bit odd but at least I can enjoy riding them! The 'rules' about position are guidelines based on experience/best practice that provide a STARTING point and most riders tweak their set up a little (or a lot) to obtain a better set-up for themselves so don't be afraid to experiment - a little at a time is best!

thanks...

ya to be honest.....i dont know .....i usually have my bars and seat about equal height on all my bikes. I dont know if ive ridden any more agressive than that stance wise. Id like to try it once but maybe all my frames are too large for that :) Heck i have 3 or 4 single speeds that i run maybe just a wee bit higher but they might be around the same height as the bars. It feels right to me. I guess that is what counts. I should probably head up to my lbs and try a much smalller frame with a more aggresive stance and see if i like it. chances are i would and id have to buy another one :)

You might like another frame, but it's by far cheaper to try out a stem with less extension. 8 cm comes to mind as something decent to try.

now just to find one. Like i said...id like to stay with the UNO brand or somthing with the cap on the end so you can remove a swap bars without retaping or removing levers etc. I have found the same style in longer but not shorter. Im sure they were made....just havent found one yet.

im working on posting pics now.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3560/3787564134_cffcbf8dab.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2467/3787563914_b31dd752b3.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2631/3787563682_2164e6bb38.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/3787563464_e2be50e634.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3786752075_7edb28aee2.jpg

There they are. Hopefully you can see them ok.

It was kind of dark.

I wouldnt worry about waiting for a stem to come along with a removable face plate as they aren't all that common in a threaded stem format. (with all due respect that uno stem is guaranteed to get some non-c&v favorable remarks btw haha!) Just use what you can find for now and when you know the length you need you can be on the lookout for the type you really want. You can usually pick up fairly good used stems on ebay for about 10-15$ such as a 3t or a cinelli, though sometimes they are harder to find shorter than 90mm. SR/sakae stems are common in 80mm.

Have you had a chance for a longer ride on the road?

The reach to my hoods always feels a little long when I first start riding, but after warming up for 45 mins or so, muscles relax and it feels just right.

Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about how a short stem looks. How it works for you is what really matters ;).

Cheers.

This is a rough guide only, but if you put your elbow against the nose of your saddle, your fingertips should just reach to the top of your handlebar, i.e., the distance between the nose of the saddle and the back of the center section of the drop handlebar should be about a cubit. All of my bikes are slightly longer than this, which works OK, but I would not want to go any longer in the stem or top tube. (My situation is also complicated by my right radius now being a full 2cm shorter than my left, after a fracture doubled my developmental difference.)

Nice looking bike!

The stem you have doesn't look original, so have no qualms about replacing it with a 70mm to 80mm Cinelli, ITM or 3TTT model. I've got one like that on my Vitus and haven't thought about replacing it for a while as it works OK!

John E has provided a useful tip when he describes putting your elbow in front of the saddle nose and your outstretched fingers should then reach the handlebar - I'd forgotten that I read this in a book a long time ago and now remember that I used to do this before I got used to doing the same thing "by eye", especially when looking at a bike I was thinking about buying! Again, it's a pretty good guide line that will help you to find out the length of stem you are looking for.

I expect this is not typical, but I thought my bars were just slightly too far out of reach as well. Then when I got around to changing handlebar tape eventually, it somehow totally fixed my problem. No idea why. Bumped something into a better place or... who knows?

Have you had a chance for a longer ride on the road?

The reach to my hoods always feels a little long when I first start riding, but after warming up for 45 mins or so, muscles relax and it feels just right.

Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about how a short stem looks. How it works for you is what really matters ;).

Cheers.

perhaps ill give it another go. It might just feel weird because im so used to the narrow drop bars on my 1970s Peugeot SS. Ive been riding that one exclusively for a while now. The bars in this bianchi feel much much wider and they are compared to the other bike. This isnt a problem. Ill give it a spin this week for more than 20 miles and see what the outcome is.

Nice looking bike!

The stem you have doesn't look original, so have no qualms about replacing it with a 70mm to 80mm Cinelli, ITM or 3TTT model. I've got one like that on my Vitus and haven't thought about replacing it for a while as it works OK!

John E has provided a useful tip when he describes putting your elbow in front of the saddle nose and your outstretched fingers should then reach the handlebar - I'd forgotten that I read this in a book a long time ago and now remember that I used to do this before I got used to doing the same thing "by eye", especially when looking at a bike I was thinking about buying! Again, it's a pretty good guide line that will help you to find out the length of stem you are looking for.


Thanks...ya i love the bike. It turned out really really well especially for my first real road bike.

I did the test with the nose of the seat / elbow just now and i can touch the bars in the middle with my middle finger just fine. If i really push i can hit them with my index and ring finger as well.

Nice retro modern :thumb:

I think some of your issue may also be the handlebar width. Those look like 44cm. I'm a big guy and the 44cm bars on my 58cm T700 made a HUGE difference in how it felt. (felt too small before). Love it now. Now I am going to change out the 40cm on my other bike to see how that feels. Narrow bars cause me to roll my shoulders forward more and I think that leads to some of the shift neck and shoulders I get on 20+mile rides.

Somebody once told me to measure the width of your shoulders and that should come close to what width bar you need. Seems to work on me but you mileage may vary.

I have this on one of my bikes. http://www.velo-orange.com/vothstad.html.
It is an adaptor to allow you to run the newer thread less stems on a Quill stem bike. You can get some really short ones down to somethign like 40mm. The Threadless from VO are machined and have a shoulder for $2 more then the Delta brand ones you see most places. They look 10 times better. This will let you change out stem lengths easily.

If you are worried about more of a period correct (its a personal thing really so don't let others sway you. You went to STI so it is all out the window anyway) you can get down to a 50cm Nitto at VO as well.
http://www.velo-orange.com/nitest.html

ya im not too hooked on the "period correctness" but id rather it not look goofy or bulky up there. I guess it doesnt get much bulkier than what have now :)

im not sure how they measure bars but i just had a look and they appear to be 40cm from drop to drop measuring on the inside. My shoulders measure around 44cm from what i can tell.

Maybe ill drop and adapter in there and see how that feels on some different stem lengths.

thanks!

bars are typically measured center to center on the ends of the drops. Sounds like you have 42cm.

ah...if that is the case i just remeasured them and ended up at 43cm. I have prett broad shoulders for my height as well.

My opinion only but I think its too big. The standard back then was a fist-full of seat post showing. It looks like you have less. Plus, I think that less than 90mm for stem length is getting too short. That combined with the seat pushed all the way forward will have an effect on handling and weight distribution. But the most important point is whether or not you enjoy riding it. That will let you know if you should keep it or not.

Another option is a short reach handlebar, which will bring the top of the brake levers back towards you. I've got two different Easton's, both short reach and short drop. This can make a big difference in how the bike feels. And bars vary quite a bit in these two dimensions. Of course, bars are more $$ than stems, but you can affect more than one ergonomic dimension by changing bars (width, reach, drop, shape, even feel, if you consider carbon).