What's Up With This Stem?
 

I just purchased this bike from Craigslist. I am fairly new to road bikes & have never seen this angle of stem before. I am interested in replacing it with original Trek geometry, which is supposedly 17 degree, 31.8 mm. There are 2 spacers. What am I getting myself into? Any problems I should know about?

I am upgrading from a stock 2003 Trek 1000 w/ Sora STI to this 2007 Trek 1600 w/ 105/Ultegra. I plan on changing the stem, saddle & pedals.

Stems are easy. I was a bit intimidated the first time I started to mess with threadless but once you see how it all comes together (preloading with the top cap), it isn't a problem. Spacers can go above or below the stem and, depending on the clamp height, you may need more, less or different width spacers (easy to get at the LBS). There are 4 measurements on threadless stems: steerer clamp size, bar clamp size, angle and length. Steerer and bar clamps need to match what you have, angle and length are up to you. Go for it (and that's a nice looking bike).

Should be an under 10 minute job. The most critical part is getting the right stem length-and then rise.

I bet you're going to want to move the shifters around as well-while still very easy to do will take longer due to the bar tape.

I don't think I ever seen a stem with that much rise that was not adjustable.

Why would I want to move the shifters?

Are you wanting to switch to the original spec stem because that happens to be the length and angle that will work best for you (smart) or just because you want it to match the original spec (dumb) ?

The bike must have been a bit too long for the previous owner. Looks like he did everything he could think of to bring the bars closer to him. The brifters look just a little high on the bar for my taste, but I realize that I'm kind of old school on that.

It is possible that you may need longer cable housing if the new stem is much longer than the one being replaced, but probably not.

Nice looking bike. Enjoy it.

I don't necessarily "want" to go back to the original spec, but after riding my Trek 1000 for a year & a half, I am more flexible than I was. I want to be lower than this tall stem, but not further away (reach). Here's a photo of the Trek 1000 I have been riding (52 miles this past Sunday):

If the frames are the same size, you might just get the same size and rise steam as what you have on the '03 and use that. From the pictures it looks like it would put you in about the same position on the '07 as you have on the '03-if that is what you're wanting to do. You can also adjust the stem up and down on the steerer tube to get it exact. If it's a Bontrager stem on the '03, you should able to look on the stem and get the specs-length and rise. Also it's hard to tell from the pics, but you might need some more spacers on the steerer tube-if the new clamp on the new stem is shorter than the one you have on the '07. Again you can measure the one you have on the '03 and see how much difference it is from what is on the '07. Hope this helps.

Just from looking at the pics-it doesn't look like there is any extra length of cable housing coming out of the shifters-so if you go much longer either you'll need to slide the shifter back towards the bars or get longer housing. And it's best to cut the housing and cable with the right tools........just makes it easier to work with. I'm guessing you're not going to have to mess with the cable housing though.

Thanks for the advice guys. It's a good day to tinker as it's raining all day.

From another web site I researched saddle height:

You contact the bike in 3 places....saddle, pedals and handle bars (say the tops to keep it simple).

If you are comfortable on the T-1000, take the measurements from the saddle top to the pedal spindle with the crank arms at the bottom of the stroke (crank arm parallel to the seat tube), and from the tip of the saddle nose to the center of the bars where they are clamped in the stem.

If you are also interested in 'bar drop' (distance from the top of the saddle to the top of the handlebars from the top of the saddle), set the old bike up so it it level, and measure from the floor to the top of the saddle, and from the floor to the top of the handlebars. If the bars are higher, you have 'negative' drop, if they are lower, you have positive drop. As you can tell from the racer pictures, some of those guys have huge positive drop.

I use about a 12" square piece of 1/4 plywood I had laying around set on top of the saddle and measure from the bottom side of it to the pedal spindle.

Transfer these measurments to the new bike as close as you can. This will at least let you set up the new bike as close as possible to the old one, and then you can go from there, changing stem length and/or angle if you want, removing steerer spacers if you want and changing stems and the angle of the drops and/or brifter position.

As far as a stem length and angles....I worked up an Excel spreadsheet that will calculate the 'reach' and 'height' of various stems, so I could compare changes.

I did a similar thing earlier this spring...wanted to extend the reach, but not change the height much, so after re-visiting some trigonmetry functions and testing them, I figured out a spreadsheet.

If you have Excel, PM me and I will email you the spreadsheet.

Just flip it.

That's the type of stem I use. Actually, on my Giant I have a stem with a more severe angle than that. I have two fused discs and have no choice if I want to ride. Let me know what you want to do with the old stem if you change it.