Originally Posted by
badger1
When drop bars are used on a bike which has been correctly designed for straight bars, they will grossly overstretch the rider. I have found that generally, the stem length needs to be reduced by around 60 to 70mm, when moving from straights to drops on the same frame. As most straight bar bikes are designed for use with a stem of from 100 to 120mm, drop bars would generally mean fitting a stem between 30 to 60mm. This is far from ideal.
Can someone explain what would happen if the stem length is reduced to 30-60 mm? A lot of the conversions reported online do this, and the owners seem quite happy. Why is this trade-off far from ideal?