Adjustable Stem for 1 1/4” bars

Adjustable Stem


After adjusting the stem, I wanted the bars higher and back further to me, I felt there was something about controlling the bike. Rode the bike a little, and realized I needed to tilt the brake levers forward and down the same angle I rotated the stem up, to get the same angle from my hands to my fingertips on the levers. Now it feels fine. I’m going to take it for another test ride.

OMFG what is that thing? 🫣

You know you can crop phone screenshots?

How does that adjustable stem lock in position? Does it feel solid?

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.

Probably bought an e-bike that was the wrong size or it's geometry is made to give you a position you don't want to be in.

Also, aging bodies in retirement frequently have their muscle mass wasting away from lack of activity for those muscle groups. Particularly the core body muscles that allow you to cantilever your body from the saddle without bearing excessive weight on your arms, wrists and hands. In my younger days, I thought going to a gym was silly. Now I'm learning it's pretty much a necessity if one wants to stay comfortable on a bike.

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

The inside surfaces are stellated to prevent slippage, and they are not worn. It might have slipped once after hitting a very deep pothole but

The gap between the seat and the cargo box has been filled in, seat lowered, padded with new foam which it really needs, wrapped with Naugahyde, and held together with hockey tape.
This is a modification of the existing seat, not an entirely new seat, although all new material was used.
More like a motorcycle, lower, further back, and the handlebars had to be adjusted to compensate. This ebike only has a 500 watt hub motor but it goes 28MPH. I pedal uphill and when accelerating. If I want to pedal I set it to 20MPH mode, and if I want to pedal harder I set it to 16MPH

This is Eleventh Prototype Completely New Fiberglass Original Design


There’s no way any motorcycle company would continue making motorcycles with plain old bicycle seats after 1913. This follows the trend.

There are a lot of layers to unpack here.

As usual, my design hero @hotbike is leading the way in innovative, design, materials and aerodynamics

Not to mention stunning aesthetics.

There are two things I can guess the purpose of here, and very many that I cannot

Clearly he's building a full-dress Harley from Correx.