revchuck 

Sara - I think I have a 100mm stem somewhere for which I have no use, PM me if you want it.

IBOHUNT

Once complete I might could not get shelled off the back so soon in a crit...

Hermes

Sara, I have a Ritchie adjustable 80 cm stem 31.8 dia. Let me know if that would work. Many times one needs to raise the endurance bars on a track bike and you will see many riders with odd looking rising stems because the head tube is too short to ride comfortably in the drops and still breathe. Keep in mind when setting up a track bike, you will always be in the drops unless you are warming up on the tops.

Allegheny Jet

Sara, you can also go this direction for stems. $45 gets you a lot of options: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/prod...750411951.html

sarals 

Hermes, I may be interested, thank you. I want to see how track works out before I dive in too deeply. I'm pretty stretched in my schedule, time, and money as it is!

AJ, thanks...I'll look at those.

Chuck - PM coming.

Ex...great, I'll email you about it!

IHO - it's a classic, I won't ride it very often, but it would win a sprint for you!

Gentlemen, thank you!

Cleave

AJ, those are probably counterfeit parts.

Allegheny Jet

I was thinking past generation. AL with the carbon weave is so 4 yrs ago.

sarals 

Or more. My L'una originally came with a white carbon wrapped ITM stem, and it's a 2005 or '06 model.

carpediemracing 

This is what a distorted picture of a "3 cm lower than a flat/-17 stem" looks like. The short story is that I love the compact bar shape but it raises the drops by 3 cm. Therefore I got a stem that is 3 cm lower than the stem I was using. One ride on the trainer, one ride outside, so far so good.

sarals 

I'm getting the TT bike close to race ready. Me, not so much....

sarals 

CDR, that's LOW!

carpediemracing 

The drops are even with the tire - it's a bit distorted due to the wide angle lens. I'm trying to get a better picture of it for my blog and failing so far (it helps if, for example, I don't leave my camera at my dad's). I just figured out now why my phone pictures aren't showing up in my list of pictures - it's in order of file name and they start with the month, not the year, so "01" (Jan) is first and I've been scrolling down to the end of the list looking for the new pictures. Duh.

AzTallRider

Interesting comment on the file names, CDR. For decades, I've named any date sensitive files so versions appear in a chronological order on the computer: E.g., FY2014_Plan_2014-01-07.xls. I do that with photo's if I rename them, but I also set the camera so the number just keeps going up sequentially. It's OC, not OCD.

Cleave

CDR, I am also about 5' 7" (when I don't slouch) but we're at polar opposites when it comes to bike fit. My legs and arms are long-ish for my height. My femur is proportionally very long for my leg length so that causes me issues with respect to being able to get far enough behind the BB spindle. Even if I could get my back as flat as yours while riding, I wouldn't be able to see because I have a short neck and I can't tip my head up as far as most people even though my neck is relatively flexible.

On top of everything else, old age and weight conspire to make me ride in a higher position. To combat that, I am constantly working on getting as low as possible, as much as possible. Still not as low as when I was younger.

carpediemracing 

Heh. I learned this at one of my IT support positions. By keeping backup files, logs, etc, in YYYYMMDD and HHMM if necessary the list will sort by time/date modified automatically. It's how I name virtually all my files, like Junior's day care pictures (they try to email a picture or two each day he's there) is 20140107_Junior1, 20140107_Junior2, etc. It's easy and it's automatic now since it was drilled into my head.

carpediemracing 

I constantly get comments on my bike but it's all because of my short legs. If they were longer I'd be higher on the bike and no one would say boo. I even thought about why my bar position is lower than it was in, say, 1992, when I was about as fast as I ever was. It's because of a few things - I had a close to 2 cm spacer under my shoe due to using Aerolite adapters; I used 167.5 cranks vs 175 cranks; I rode with a higher position. My goal was to get my torso into the "drafting air stream" of other riders - I felt I was too low to draft effectively. This really played a factor in collegiate TTTs - I was even considering putting spacers under the cleat adapter to raise me another cm or two. My bars were low but not quite that low, and they're the same bars I'm working to remove from my bikes (crit bend Mavic and 3ttt bars with virtually identical bends).

Hm. When I look I see that the position was actually basically the same. I guess I'm heavier enough that I can't hold the same position, or at least I'm not courageous enough to order a stem that drops me another 2 cm or so.

This is from 1991 I think since I got a 2.8 in 1992. The drops are about level with the tire here also. You can see just how high my saddle is - it's something like 1 cm higher. This is also a race where I really rue my tactics - I attacked just because, got a 20 second gap solo in two laps, at that point it was 6 one km laps to go, and although I felt fine I thought that I went too early. I could hold "only" 25 mph in the wind and about 30+ in the friendly straights. I sat up and it took the single file field half a lap to catch me and I barely touched the pedals while waiting for them - I never drifted more than about 4 or 5 riders back for the last 5 laps. I ended up 4th in the sprint and even that I decided to wait until after the last turn, not realizing that there was no way to pass three national level sprinters in 200m (two would win multiple Masters titles each; the third would be a Cat 1 or pro in the next season). I wonder what would have happened had I kept going or if I hadn't controlled my instinct to jump going into the last turn (most of the place money was in that order coming out of the turn - I was 4th when I went).

AzTallRider

Getting the torso in the flow can be problematic. When Cleave and I race together, neither of gets much of a draft from the other, even though I block a fair amount of wind. My shadow is above his torso, and his is below mine.

Being on a break with Cleave and Ex was, well, hard.

Cleave

Latest update to my training / mid-week race / backup race bike:

2007 Serotta Attack. As of today, I have roughly 21,000 mile on the frame. I don't think any component on the bike right now was on it when I initially built it. The only notable change this year is changing the saddle from a fi’zi:k Antares to a (Gen III) Selle Italia Flite Team. The Antares worked OK for me but every time I rode one of my bikes with the original Flite I'd note how much better the old Flite felt. I'm hoping the new Flite feels as good. Also, the Antares dug into my hamstrings a little when I slid back on it on climbs.

I'd post a few more photos of it but I feel too crappy right now.

Hermes

Cleave, What is your opinion on cutting the steerer tube. My -17 degree stem is on a 5 mm top cap that sits on the head tube. I have about 4 cm of steerer tube sticking above the stem. I want to cut it but my fear is that it reduces resale value to Freds.

revchuck 

Hermes - I'm not Cleave, but I whacked the top 2.5cm from the steerer on my Look 585 Optimum, their most Fredly (endurance) version. I don't see myself selling it any time soon. It's a relatively uncommon version of a relatively uncommon bike, in an uncommon size (XXL/61cm). The resale market for this frameset is miniscule-to-none. If I had a custom Serotta, I'd whack the steerer to suit me. If I had a standard version of a more common bike that I liked and the bike fit me well, I'd whack the steerer there too. If I had a bike that I was planning on selling anyway, I'd keep it intact. YMMV.

shovelhd

I think it's one thing to slam it with no top cap and no spacer, but as long as you have 5mm or so on both sides of the stem you should be fine with resale value. Besides, used frames that were raced lose value like a rock over a cliff.

carpediemracing 

I think that an aftermarket fork (I have only those on my two main bikes) can be cut. I leave spacers on for clamp strength purposes.

On my factory/matching fork bikes (Cannondale, Giants) I cut the fork as short as possible. I went to leaving a 5mm spacer on top of the stem on the last one I cut so that the stem would clamp 100% of its 40mm height or so.

I have yet to try and sell one of my used frame sets. They have the value of a rock tossed over a cliff.

revchuck 

Must be a New England thing.

Hermes

Thanks guys. I have had great success selling bikes / frames on ebay and getting a lot of value with full disclosure of use and wear and tear. I do not race my Cervelo R5 except in hill climbs but I do like to trade out equipment from time to time as new stuff becomes available. The head tube on the new Cervelos is taller and better suited for cyclists who prefer less seat to bar drop. I am going to have the tube cut and leave a few mm above the stem. Right now it is just too much, looks goofy and not good if something goes wrong and I fall on it.

AzTallRider

Here is what mine looks like. There is no spacer on top because there is an inner sleeve that glues in if/when you cut the tube to exactly where you want it. The sleeve adds strength, and the cap is designed to be as aero as possible with the precise cut. Once you glue the sleeve in, though, your cutting days are over.