Mountain Biking - Flip My Stem?

I flipped the stem on my 2007 Specialized Stumpjumper HT, with a flat bar. The change is fairly significant - more so than when I flipped the stem on my road bike.

When I flipped the stem on my road bike, I knew why - I wanted a lower position. I've never thought about doing so with my mountain bikes - until yesterday, I'd always left the stem alone.

While the bike looks a bit strange with the sharply down-angled stem, and while I'd have to say that I felt a bit more stretched out, I also liked the feeling on the well-graded, short, flat dirt road I took yesterday.

So what advantages or disadvantages might come with flipping my stem down?

Welcome to endo-city!

>Welcome to endo-city!<

Hmmmm.........maybe I'll flip it back!

Yeh, be prepared for lots of endos!

So what's up with the moderation around here?

I had a nice reply to this thread, something constructive, other than the knee-jerk "you'll endo" stuff, and now it's completely gone? WTF?

So what's up with the moderation around here?

I had a nice reply to this thread, something constructive, other than the knee-jerk "you'll endo" stuff, and now it's completely gone? WTF?
Nothing I'm aware of.

Post it again.

This thread is definitely lacking in the reality department.

Please inject a dose of sanity here, Scrub.

yeah, i'd like to see a solid reply, scrub!

anyways, by flipping you mean down...not around.....right?:innocent::D

"anyways, by flipping you mean down...not around.....right?"

Um.......yes.

And I too would like to know what was deleted, as long as it didn't make me look like too much of an idiot.

i had my flipped down as far as it could go...and the stem itself lowered as low as it could go....loved it

p.s. i always hated stems angled up...looks like a COMFORT bike

sounds like it would hurt if you took it to the chest much more than a positive angled stem.

actually, i angle it down myself until it is nearly LEVEL...any lower then, sure, it's simply a badly designed drop-bar...:o

oh ya you have that adjustable stem. I was going to suggest just get a 0 degree stem.

I ran a flipped stem for a little while on a hardtail XC bike. Here's what I noticed:
1) Uphills were a lot easier. The hill could be steeper and I could stay seated, whereas I'd have to stand up for a similar hill to avoid looping out with the stem up.
2) Picking up the front of the bike was harder. I could still pop it up, but not as far. Doing wheelies was also quite a bit harder.
3) Downhills felt sketchier. I would still keep my weight over the BB the same way as with the stem up, but I just felt like I was going to go over the bars more often.

Those were my observations anyway. I eventually decided that for my style of riding, I was better off with the stem flipped up. I enjoyed downhills enough that I didn't want to sacrifice that confidence for the uphill advantage. Also, of the people I rode with, I was already a fairly strong climber, and didn't need the edge there...rather, it was more useful for me to have the edge on the tech-y stuff that I found was easier with the stem up. Depending on how you ride, you may find the opposite, that flipping the stem works to your advantage. Play around with it, see what you like, and whatever you do, if you play with spacers, don't cut the steering tube until you're absolutely sure that's how you want to keep it.

flip it!

mx

flip it!

mx

Back!

i run my stem with it flipped up positive rise, but still have like 4" saddle to bar drop.

oh ya you have that adjustable stem. I was going to suggest just get a 0 degree stem.

talk about coincidence, i actually just put on a 0 degree stem to replace my scary adjustable.

so i still say flip if you got 'em...;)

This is a little nebulous to talk about the differences in stem-flipping, when the degree of rise + the length is an important factor.

Flip of 0-6 degree stem= slight change

Flip of 20 degree rise stem= bigger change

.......and both change even more as the stem gets longer, say up to 120-130mm length.

Lots of factors here.

Assuming you have a relatively relaxed +/- rise stem (as in, only a few degrees) flipping ought not lead to catastrophe. The knee jerk reaction of "you'll endo" is unfounded in reality, unless you're a complete hack on a bike. Ahem. Again, this assumes you aren't going from way high up to way low.
Your head angle isn't altering, just your hand and body positioning. Relatively easy stuff to adapt to, if you like the initial feel.

Otherwise, it may lead to you being stretched out a bit more. If you like it, ride it. You may find if you like the lower front end feeling, but do feel too stretched out that a new stem with the same low feeling, but less length may do the trick.

You get a bit more weight over the front, which can be nice when cornering and climbing. Again, unless you go to extremes with things, it shouldn't un-weight the rear end enough to cause trouble.

What a helpful response, Scrub...



Flipping sux.

I flipped mine to get a little more weight forward on the bike so it wasn't so light on the front wheel on climbs.

I ride a flipped down stem on a trek fuel. Been about 3 years and I would never switch it back. Bottom line is if you like it for your style of riding, then do it.

I've flipped my stem before . . . along with the rest of the bike . . . and myself.

I don't do wheelies clipped in anymore.

The bike blog officially ruled too aerodite for Bike Forums is hereBTW, icyclist: if your blog is truly "aerodite," I'd say it fits right in with the literacy level here. :lol:

dminor wrote:

>BTW, icyclist: if your blog is truly "aerodite," I'd say it fits right in with the literacy level here<

so, i, liek think your rite! ;)