Originally Posted by
lazerzxr
Thats what I love about fit threads, people tell you to ride what is comfortable, before insisting on what that is and should be. different size stems exist to allow you to fit a bike to your particular proportions, just like moving the seat up and down. Its as simple as that. No standard "as shipped" bike is likely to fit me, I have to adjust things and if that means using a 100mm stem, that is just as valid as using a 130mm stem.
The 130mm stem police are just trying to copy their pro heros, its pathetic.
One of these "experts" has previously posted that your reach should be within 20mm of a "common pro" of the same height. Utterly laughable!!
Lets see now - Andy schleck 6'1" and 635mm from saddle nose to bar centre, Andy Pinfold 6'2" and 600mm from saddle to bar centre. Both are significantly accomplished athletes and bear no resemblence to eachother and certainly not to me! Interestingly Schleck also has more saddle set back AND a higher seat AND 35mm more reach yet is overall an inch shorter! Maybe these guys are not common enough or maybe they are doing it wrong too. At the TDU this year there were a number of riders i noticed using short stems and spacers, one guy even had his stem flipped up. Are they wrong too? Could our fit "experts" sort those huys out from half a photo and large dose of ego?
All I know is that when these fit "experts" start their post with things like "what most people dont understand" what it means is "im going to ignore your question completely and preach to you about my long stem becasue there is a vague chance you may possibly listen and it will help me with complex about short stems"
You are referring to me which is fine. I quote Pro specs as an 'example' based upon rider size. Yes there is variance within the pro ranks. You won't find a pro riding a bike with a 100mm stem or a 6' er with less than a 600mm cockpit either. They don't exist. That is fine as well. I ride with 600mm and am a 6 footer btw and no pro. Many pros my size are in the 625mm range which is fine for them. I suggested riding a shorter cockpit than most pros because it is common sense. I honestly don't care what you ride. In fact based upon all the data published on the 41 more guys than not ride small frames like the pros only with a 100mm stem. To me, this is horrible position on a bike. I hope you like it. Recently there were a lot of 6'4" guys coming here also with 100mm stems and it was obvious they were ridiculously cramped on the bike...very big guys riding a cockpit of 580mm or so. Most that lengthened their cockpit are much happier with their fit and faster.
Fit will never be agreed upon. If the great Eddie Merckx constantly changed his frames as an ongoing experiment to avert pain as in his case, and one of the things overlooked about him is his mastery of understanding bike fit as it relates to speed, then the average guy has a lot of experimenting to do. Currently FWIW I have taken a page out of Road Warrior's book and gone to a 140mm stem and a bit less setback to open my hip angle to generate a bit more power in the drops where I am spending more time. An ongoing experiment.
Probably the best way to assess fit if serious is with a power meter and a wind tunnel. Most of us don't have those at our disposal. Many know that closing the hip angle will generally reduce power output so its a tradeoff between aero profile and power. TT bike fitters generally understand this more than road bike guys.
PS: btw its drivel and not dribble...what babies do. Yes we can all act like babies from time to time.
