Originally Posted by
hotbike
Adjustable Stem (Requires 1.25” 1 1-4” diameter bar)
This stem locks securely, it gets used by delivery people in NYC, where the cobblestones speak Dutch. It feels solid and if it did shift it was that 8” deep pothole I didn’t see during a night ride.
I did not remember that I should have cropped the photo, the same way I didn’t remember to adjust the brake levers. I moved the bars -6.5° and should have moved the levers a corresponding + 6.5° to result in the same angle, a straight line from my shoulders to my fingertips.
Meant this post as a reminder.
edit:
I had been trying to figure out what the problem was. When you ride an ebike (or any motorbike) your arms become fatigued more than your legs, so my arms were tired. Additionally I had been sawing wood which also fatigues my arm muscles. I figured my arms were tired. But then I remembered your brake have to be lowered so you can rest the medial of your hand on the bar with your fingertips reaching the levers so you can squeeze them.
This means that when you sit on the bike and hold your arms straight, from shoulder to fingers , the levers were too high, which prevented me from putting my weight on my palms on the bars.
I see
this frequently, brake levers angled too high on flat (non drop) bars. Too high an angle and one's wrists have to up/out wards bend so the palms can be on the grips and the fingers on the levers. A really poor arrangement for good control, independent on comfort issues. I generally adjust the levers' angle so that the shoulders/wrists/hands and the levers are all in a relatively straight line. Andy
I should add that some of these stems with a hinge in their middle has limitations on their use. Specifically off road or stunt riding. The obvious worry is that the hinge will not stay put when riding in an extreme manor or over rough and shock producing surfaces. I'll let the lawyers argue what's stunt riding or off road. That some feel the need to have these limits makes me only suggest this type of stem for initial fitting purposes and its replacement with a fixed/one shape stem after confirming the changes are preferred. I'll also add that I frequently service bikes with hinged stems where the hinge clamp is either not well tightened or that the fasteners are tight but the hinge contact surfaces have become so worn that the bars have some "float/slop/wobble" to them. Andy