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Going to a lower Stem

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Going to a lower Stem

Old 06-11-16, 10:44 PM
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Going to a lower Stem

I often see comments about as flexibility improves. I started out with a 15 degree stem and as my flexibility improved I went down to a 10 degree, also 10mm longer. Now I'm thinking I'm ready to go lower again with also longer again.

Having some knee soreness I went forward with my seat which seems to have helped. With this I think I need to recover some of the distance I lost from seat to bars by going with a longer stem. Since I'm buying a need stem the question is should I stay with a 10 degree of drop to the more common 6 degree. Going from my now 120 x 10 degree to 130 x 6 degree will move my bar forward about 11mm and lower them about 7mm (from a vertical and horizontal plane). If I stayed with a 10 degree at 130mm it would move the bars forward about 9.6mm and raise the bars about 1.5mm.

I feel confident I have gained flexibility and that I could easily ride the lower position but is there any advantage or disadvantage to going lower?
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Old 06-12-16, 07:01 AM
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Like most answers here in the 41, it depends. With your increased flexibility, what's your objective in a longer and/or lowered stem? Speed, comfort, endurance, power, etc?
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Old 06-12-16, 07:17 AM
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Going to a longer stem to improve my position on the bike. I've had my seat too far back, with moving the seat forward I feel cramped so I'm going to go to a longer stem. I'm expecting it to be more comfortable, giving me more speed, endurance and power.
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