Bicycle Mechanics - Shortening Stem Reach

Hey, guys. I'm planning on shortening the stock stem on my bike so that I can move my seat further back to a more comfy position without stretching out like crazy to get to the handlebars.

How will moving the handles backward in relation to the wheel axis change the handling? How far back is too far?

I'm setting it up for a commuter type bike, and I'm thinking about going from a 40 degree riser stem of 120mm length to a 45mm stem with 6 degree rise. (I think that cuts back the reach about 4cm, and I'll probably move the seat back about that much.)

If my geometry is correct, you'll wind up moving the bars back 5 cm. But you'll also be dropping them 7 cm. That's gonna have quite an impact on your riding position. But maybe that's what your looking for.

If my geometry is correct, you'll wind up moving the bars back 5 cm. But you'll also be dropping them 7 cm. That's gonna have quite an impact on your riding position. But maybe that's what your looking for.

Actually, you're exactly right it's a BIG drop in handlebar height which I wasn't really looking for. I'm trying to figure out how to attach this Delta Stem Riser to the Threadless Stem Adapter. There's a bolt that goes through the Delta Stem Riser that is supposed to go down into the quill and attach to that funky wedge piece in the quill, but the problem is that the bolt supplied with the Stem Riser is too short to reach the wedge. And, the bolt supplied with the quill is too big in diameter to fit through the Delta Stem Riser.

I think that if I only use the bolts on the back of the Stem Riser then it won't grip the quill tightly enough. :(

I'd like to just shorten the reach without lowering the handlebars too much (which actually increases the reach to the handlebars, right?).

Wow. Rube Goldberg comes to mind. Why not just use a Nitto Technomic instead of trying to mate those two contraptions. It has to be cheaper and will certainly work better.

http://tinyurl.com/5j96s

-a

Are we talking MTB or Road? I assume since you're using the quill adaptor you've currently got an old threaded headset right?

Sliders got a start, there are plenty of quills with lots of rise (vertical extension) and very little reach (horizontal).

Is your current stem something like what I've got going here http://home.twcny.rr.com/dobber/index.1.jpg

Wow. Rube Goldberg comes to mind. Why not just use a Nitto Technomic instead of trying to mate those two contraptions. It has to be cheaper and will certainly work better.

http://tinyurl.com/5j96s

-a

Yes. If you have a threaded headset, then get rid of all this adapter junk and just buy a long Nitto Technomic stem to raise your bars where you want them. The Nittos are available in different lengths so you can pull the bars back where you want them at the same time. Check aebike.com and make sure you get the correct clamp size for your bars.

Besides, the Nitto is an elegant stem.

[QUOTE=dobber]Are we talking MTB or Road? I assume since you're using the quill adaptor you've currently got an old threaded headset right?/QUOTE]

Actually I have an a mountain/comfort bike. It's a Giant Outlook. It had this one piece stem like those Nitto things. So I thought I needed this stem adapter in order to get a new, shorter stem. I didn't realize one piece stems came in so many sizes. (I think I need to look beyond Performance and Nashbar sometimes!)

MTB handlebars are 25.4mm clamp size, right? The shortest I see that Nito has is 0 rise (why do they say it's angle is 71??), with 70mm length. This would be 70mm reach, right, but I'd like to shorten it about 2 more cm than that. (After about 9 months of riding I'm kind of realizing the frame is a bit large, and I'm trying to compensate.)

Did you ever see any one piece stems for a MTB with a 5cm reach? Do they exist, or will I just waste my time google-whacking it? How come most stems for the MTBs are the separate, two piece kind? Most people don't raise their handlebars, I geuss, huh?

[QUOTE=dobber]Did you ever see any one piece stems for a MTB with a 5cm reach? Do they exist, or will I just waste my time google-whacking it? How come most stems for the MTBs are the separate, two piece kind? Most people don't raise their handlebars, I geuss, huh?

How bout http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=SM2020

or maybe something like http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=SM2873, which might afford you some additional adjustability.

Unfortunately, it's much easier to make a slightly undersized ride fit, then an oversize one.

Good luck