Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
Why don't you try raising your stem up to the minimum insertion mark? That'll raise the handlebar and move it closer to the saddle. Ride it that way for awhile. If you decide you don't like it you'll have a better idea of what you have to do and you won't have wasted any money.
I don't know about other manufacturers, but with the Nitto
Technomic stems, a 4cm change in height (up) moves the handlebars back 1.5cm
WRT "minimum insertion": On the Nitto stems, it's 65mm, giving you 135mm on the
Technomic "Deluxe", and 185mm on the
Technomic "Standard" (the "Deluxe" is shiny, but not lengthy). The Nitto
DirtDrop comes with extensions of 80mm and 100mm (same minimum insertion), but rather than looking like the number "7", it angles up-and-forward, steeply, giving added handlebar height without increasing the reach.
I just bought a Nitto
DirtDrop (100mm) from Rivendell, and will be installing it as soon as I get some longer brake cables and housing (my LBS didn't leave me any slack on the lines, and tightened the brake lever assemblies
so much, so...)