How to determine stem length?
 

I have a 22" 1985 Specialized Rockhopper with bullmoose handelbars that I want to try putting a set of North Road style or Albatross handlebars on. I will need to use a tall Nitto Technomic stem to get the height I want but I don't know how to figure the stem extension length. Can you share with me any ideas on how to make that determination before purchase? Thanks.

buy your bars first. the north road bars will bring them up around 5", which may be enough to get away with not purchasing a new stem.

Well it depends ... on a lot of things. The North Road vs the Albatross has a different amount of reach (or pullback or sweep or whatever). I've also got some Nitto Promenade bars which extend back even further towards your body. In fact there are 3 models of the Promendade (I've got two), all with different reaches. I like the Albatross much more than the North Road, and btw, the steel Albatross is $11 less and 2cm wider than the alloy, at Rivendell.

I plan on posting photos someday of the four types of upright bars I have so people can get a feel for it. So anyway, the reach of the technomic should be factored into the reach of the bars.

I just ordered two techonomics at 50mm reach, their shortest. That looks a little severe, but it worked when combined with the longest of the Promenade models, on a bike with a longer top tube than I'm used to. In the end I got a pretty decent upright position for me.

One more thing, more upright requires a wider saddle. It's an anatomical thing. My favorite is the Brooks B67.