Originally Posted by
tony_blue
The stem is 120mm of length with 100m exposed out the head tube.
As per Rivendell's recommendations, to complete the bike fitting, the reach should be compensated for, by using appropriate stem dimensions.
However, I am beginning to get a little skeptical about this, and so would like to hear your input...
Could swapping the stem with a 100mm length one improve my comfort on the bike? Is it common to dial up stem measurements upon new bike purchases?
OK couple things... few things maybe:120mm stem is a long stem. Stems that long usually come attached to tall bikes. How tall are you? How tall is the bike? And 100mm exposed out of the head tube?? Are you confusing the neight of the stem with the length of the stem? Modern stems have pop top heads and are trivial to swap out and can be obtained fairly cheap from some brands. Ignored by many riders is the reach of the handlebars themselves. The "standard" reach of those classic bend handlebars on the 90's road-bikes was 100mm. The reach of "compact bend" or "ergo bars" from the 20 oughts is around 80mm. Between bars and stems and their careful selection some comfort can be found. As an earlier poster mentioned the riders fitness and/or flexibility are not always static and what isn't comfortable today might become so after some time is spent developing flexibility or fitness.