Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest

From the posts I've read of yours, you seem to know a great deal about bikes, and about how they work. Let me ask about this in more detail. I had thought the handling ( turning, mostly ) came from the fork and headset angle, and the wheel base. I think the R3 is set up to be faster than the S2 in both of these ways. But it sounds like the bar height has a lot to do with it - which is what the guy at LBS seemed to be implying when he said I should test ride a 61 cm frame if the 58 didn't handle well, because of the taller headset. And it made a lot of difference. First ... will using a taller stem when the bike isn't designed for it cause any problems with this? Second, if I wound up doing that, either for comfort or to change the steering, how would I figure out how much of the aero benefit I would give up? ( I guess test ride it with a taller stem? ) Also, if the R series turns more quickly and feels better for handling ... do I really want to get used to (only slightly) more sluggish handling?