Nubie

The stem, that is.

After my little run-in at Critical Mass a few weeks ago that bent my handlebars (please, let's not turn this thread into a "Critical Mass Is Evil vs. Critical Mass is the Prolitariat Rising Against The Oppressors" thread), I got a new set of Salsa Short 'n' Shallow handlebars, I was inspired by iamtim's post and had my stem flipped in the process. So far, it's pretty comfortable, but I haven't done any very long rides with it yet.

Also note the full 105 upgrade (9-speed). Not because it needed it, but because I wanted to.

What do you all think?

Before:



After:

domestique

the question is: "what do YOU think"?

How do you like the Salsa bars?

Nubie

I think it's purty!

jock

Looks like the height of the hoods hasn't changed much if at all. But they are closer to the saddle now which obviates the usual requirement to adjust the saddle position slightly when you flip the stem.

Looks racy compared to the old setup. Hope it feels just as good. It should do, you won't be reaching forward quite as much so less load on the arms. Have fun with it.

rufvelo

Congrats!

Being one of those 'flip it' pests here, I'll say your bike finally looks like a sports bike - like someone with some cycling fitness owns and rides it.

On the 'Not because it needed it, but because I wanted to' comment, sure why not. BTW, SHimano's corporate goal is Dura-Ace in every home!

Also, please do water those plants!

ranger5oh

yeah.. looks better now... just watch for back pain

blandin

Over the last three or four months I've flipped the stems on 5 out of my seven bikes. The other two aren't far behind.

Sirrobinofcoxly

Much better. And it looks nicer too. You didn't buy a hybrid, so why set it up like one. Congrats

jsharr

Based on the building in the background, the hoods dropped half a floor in distance. That is a HUGE drop.

All kidding aside, it does look better, but as many have said before, what matter most is how the bike feels to you. It is better to feel good than to look good.

tlupfer

i mentioned this in another thread, but i would like to rally a counter-movement that encourages riders to limit their spacer use to a single spacer of between 2 and 5mm thickness. this movement would allow stem rise of up to +12 degrees to achieve a proper fit.

jock

hahaha. didn't see that before!

jock

I'd put my money on him not getting any backpain coz the hoods are at roughly the same height as before and the overall reach has been reduced a little.

operator

Well it looks like a real bike now..

pdxtex

i have those same handle bars on both of my bikes. i looooove them. good for you. and the fuji looks great!!

iamtim

Hey, right on!

HWS

MMMMMMMM......FUJI.... Looks great either way. I had mine un-flipped for a while to try it out but flipped it back again to lower the bars. I found it more comfortable flipped.

Nice lookin bike.

iamtim

I still don't get this -- educate me please. I have a real hard time grokking how a few spacers can have a negative enough affect on performance to justify a counter-movement.

tlupfer

you can get a stem in the same position as you have it now, reduce weight, and have a stiffer front end. a longer steer tube, especially with a significant portion of that length beyond the headset, adds flex and a greater possibility for breakage. perhaps thinking in terms of a bottom bracket will help. imagine putting a 150mm spindle in place of a 111mm (disregarding q-factor and all of that)--which will be stiffer? now imagine that your cranks could end up in the same place, the proper place, with either spindle--which would make more sense given the same bottom bracket shell size?

operator

So you're telling me all those quill stem setups are dangerous as soon as they're exposed past the headtube/headset interface?

Come on.

tlupfer

"dangerous" is a loaded word. More dangerous than a quill stem that is bottomed out? sure. But quill stems are clearly marked with a minimum insertion point. What many people do not consider is that many threadless fork manufacturers have a spec for how much steerer can be safely showing beyond the headset. This cannot be clearly marked on the steer tube because headtubes and headset stack heights vary. This is not as much of a concern with aluminum and steel steer tubes, but with carbon steerers I highly recommend checking with the manufacturer before jacking up 4 inches of spacers.

The real point was this: if you can have the same position on the bicycle, a drop in bicycle weight, and an increase in efficiency, then why not do it? People are spending hundreds of dollars to shed a few grams here and there when they could be chopping their steerers at negligible expense.

FormerBMX'er

Looking good, almost as good as my FUJI .

Pro

That is one sexy Fuji! I love the colors! Now if I could only find a nice Fuji frame online for cheap! I wanna built a fixed gear with a Fuji frame for sure!

merlinextraligh

One problem is resale, once you chop the steerer, you've limited sizing options. However, your basic point is true. Stem with positive rise, and no spacers is going to be a slightly lighter, slightly stiffer set up, than the same stem flipped with spacer to get the same drop. So in a lot of cases the flip it mentality is about aesthetics rather than performance.

rufvelo

However, if you have too many spacers, or too upright a stem, there is usually a frame sizing problem. For a properly sized especially compact frame, if steerer height(spacer stack, not total length) equals tube width, which is often recommended regardless of 1 or 1,1/8 inch, a 'relatively horizontal' stem can provide a good 3-4 inch drop which is ideal for most 'performance-oriented' bikes/setups.

Nubie

I do! But I don't understand why they're so scraggly like that.