Originally Posted by
Pop N Wood
No. The shape or angularity of the lever doesn't matter. All that matters is the force vector and the straight line distance from the pivot point and the force itself. the lever (stem etc) can be I, L, S or even U shaped.
Mathematically it is the cross product of the force vector and the vector from the pivot point to where the force is applied. I hate posting a diagram on a site like this but maybe is will resonate with some.
Torque and Equilibrium (gsu.edu)
This isn't a physics problem, it's a hardware problem. Stem risers clamp on the steerer in a different way than stems do. I have yet to see a stem riser that is approved by the riser manufacturer for carbon. They all tend to pinch at the bottom rather than clamp along the length of the exposed steerer like a stem does. And that is because the split ends shortly above the top clamping bolt, preventing the top bolt from closing the upper part of the tube the same way the bottom bolt does. Net result is that the bottom edge digs into soft carbon instead of conforming to a steel tube.
That's the problem with theories - they don't really apply if you don't understand the actual mechanics. And then you are making dumb recommendations on bike forums that could get people hurt. So maybe your ability to do basic physics has little application to actually working on bikes and giving advice?