That looks pretty cool. I've often thought that, on a really long ride, it might be nice to be able to move the bars a bit up or down, just to change positions for a while. Drop the bars in a nasty head wind, raise them up for a slower ride with friends, etc. I was sold right up to the "professional installation required" bit. Ick. Has anyone seen one of these yet, and know what exactly I need a professional to do for me?

-T. (ya had me, then ya lost me)

So I ended up buying the Motobecane Fantom CX Cross Bike. I was worried about the "aggressive" riding geometry of cross bikes but it ended up working out. I added a threadless stem raiser and an aftermarket seat. The seat has been the most important thing in making me comfortable, it looks like it is designed to be angled forward, making me comfortable when I'm leaning forward.

In the end, making me more upright helped with comfort (using the stem raiser), but also making me more comfortable leaning forward (using the seat) helped too!

My next step is to try a shorter stem, thanks to Fiery for easing my concerns about them!

Are you comfortable with the saddle angle? It looks wrong to me. The saddle should be pretty much level. You will be sliding forward on this, no?

Adam

My Koga Came with an ITM CNC adjustable stem 3 bolt faceplate ,

how they locked the adjustment in place .. made in nice and solid..

got a stem raiser from BBB, it is an internal quill , threadless to threadless

replaced the star nut, shims the stem grips are keyed in to the quill .

bolt that pulls up the wedge , is threaded on the top, internally,

so top cap bolt still does headset preload. A clever piece.

I have the exact same set up on my Fantom Pro. But I also just put on a set of On One Midge bars to have the drops slightly wider and higher up than the standard bars. I'm up to my eyeballs in snow at the time, so no opportunity to try them out yet, but they feel great while seated on the bike. I'm really looking forward to riding with them. But, although I think this set up will work out fine, I think I may start watching for a touring frame at some point in the future. Maybe a build next winter.