I was always in the drop before flipping it, I'm still always in the drop after flipping it but now at least I'm comfortable on the 'hood' (That's the top of the bar right?)

Edit: And I was fitted with the stem flipped.

Thanks for the quick replies!

As to people's questions/concerns
- It's a new Trek 1000, so it's threadless (I knew this, just neglected to mention).
- The stem is angled upwards now, how the bike shop built it, not like on Trek's website.
- The frame's a little small, but I was unaware we had other bike shops in town (d'oh!), so I never got a chance to test out other low-end models. I think a compact frame with an effective 56cm size (in terms of Trek's sizing) would be perfect, but I don't have the money now. Poor college student bit...

My eyes have been opened. Thanks.:D

It's all a matter of how low you want your handlebar to be. If your back is flat or almost flat and you're not experiencing back or neck pains, you're doing great.

Congrats! While you don't HAVE TO flip the stem, this is how a 'performance-oriented' bike should look and I'm sure, feel.

Flip it, if back starts hurting, unflip it. Thats my suggestion.

Some people might argue that if one has to flip a stem up and add a bunch of spacers to raise the handlebars 6", then they are on the wrong type of bike, and that a "flipped up" stem is a band-aid for a poor fit.

So what's worse, the people who say "flip it" for the image, or the ones who bought a race bike when they should have bought a Pilot or Roubaix, but didn't because they didn't want to buy a "comfort bike" and be associated with that image? ;)

When I bought my Lemond I had the stem up because of back issues. As I healed more and got used to the bike I flipped it to the down position. I noticed a little more aero effects when riding into the wind, but the handling was night and day different. With the stem down the bike was more stable, tracked better, and held a line through corners better. My first ride down a twisty road in the new configuration was like riding a new bike!

If we'd all just stayed with threaded quill stems we wouldn't be in this mess.

Anytime. You gave me another excuse to post pics of my bike. :)

It feels totally different. When I first started riding again, I had a belly and couldn't get too low -- the pre-flippage picture was perfect. But after riding for a while I found myself bending more and more, so it was a natural progression. For me now, the post-flippage picture fits perfect.

There's lotsa truth in that thar statement.

When I stopped riding in the early 90's, everything was quill stems. When I started riding again last year, it's now all threadless stems. I *still* don't see the advantage of threadless, even though I use it now. My fixie is threaded and quill stemmed, and truth be told I think I prefer that.

Then again, if I'm not looking at the stem I can't tell a difference between the two bikes (as far as stem is concerned) so it's probably 6 of one, half-dozen of the other.

Now that's funny considering past posts. Where do I buy tickets. I want to see the whole show. Can you see my finger in your mirror BIOTCH? oh...that's right mirrors are too cool for J000!!!!

True True True
 

When I started riding in 1981, there were only quill stems. In the winter we would raise the bars to account for thicker clothing, thicker bellys and a more comfy position for LSD mileage. As the season wore on, we wore fewer layers and smaller bellies. The bars would lower as fitness dictated. It was a 1 minute change. We had probably about 4cm to play with so you could really dial in the height nicely.

Pb Okole

I went ahead and flipped it today, but I ran into some trouble. Besides the two little bits, it feels awesome. Busy with homework and needed a diversion, but I couldn't fit in a ride, so I can't say how it feels on the road. I rotated the bars down a little and the brakehoods feel a lot better to rest on and I like the drop level much better.

First, the front cap seems a little weird to me. I attached a picture of it and the side, but I couldn't get a good picture. The front cap doesn't clamp completely down on the bars, it kind of sits out a little ways. I'd say the top's about 1.5mm out and the bottom's 2.5 or 3mm out. As the bolts are rusting in the head, I'm a little worried about them rusting out. Is this normal? Should I adjust it so there's no gap at the top? I don't think I should, but I'll ask anyways: Does it just need a harder cranking?

The headset seems a little bit loose now, but I feel like if I crank any harder on the topcap, I might break something. I haven't got a chance to ride on it, just do the front-brake-test (jam front brake, attempt to move front end) and it wiggles what feels like a lot. Granted, it's probably not a terribly great headset, as it is a low-end bike, but I'm not sure. Do I need to crank it some more? Should I take it in to be looked at or am I just applying much more force than normal?

Yeah, cause the man was huge and had arms like a monkey.

No the front clamp shouldn't be completely clamped down. It's normal for there to be a small gap and try to keep the gaps fairly even on both sides but don't get too woried about it. When it comes to tightening down the stem and the steerer bearings you do this BEFORE tightening the clamp. YES, dont tighten too much if yo have already bolted the stem to the steerer tube.

Regards, Anthony

Okay, I figured out the problem. I clamped down the handlebars with the front cap, causing the stem to be angled downward on the steerer. This let some spacers move, which they did because the fork wanted to lean back further and could, with the spacers moved. I don't really know how to explain it more clearly, just that if you do flip your stem, do it in full reverse order. So here's the order that worked for me:

1. Loosen and remove front clamp bolts, set handlebars on front wheel (makes it a one person job).
2. Loosen and remove topcap bolt, remove topcap.
3. Loosen (optionally, remove) steerer clamp bolts.
4. Flip stem.
5. Retighten steerer clamp bolts. Ensure it is facing in line with the front wheel, otherwise it might suck.
6. Replace and retighten topcap and bolt.
7. Put bars back on, replace and handtighten front clamp.
8. Figure out a good handlebar angle and tighten the front clamp bolts fully.
9. Hold front brake, try rolling front tire back and forth to check for looseness. Basically, do your handlebars and front fork/wheel remain solidly connected while wiggling the tire back and forth or is there some separation? If separation is apparent, you'll need to fix it. I can't really help you, sorry.

with all due respect, that's just ********.

Why can't people understand that comfort is a major factor in efficiency?

If having your bars that low works for you and your body, cool. But the simple fact is, way too many people listen to the hype and not their back, neck and most importantly, lungs.


Do NOT flip just cuz it's a 'popular' idea.

OK you have the order of operation wrong which is what I was trying to explain.

You need to swap the order for operations 5 and 6.

Regards, Anthony

So what's worse? The people who 'flip it' because it's a popular idea, or the people who buy a race bike with a short head tube and add a high-rise stem and 4cm of spacers when what they really needed was a comfort bike?

Either way, it's an image-driven choice.

With all due respect, who the hell are you? You obviously missed my post where I said:

I flipped my stem because I felt like I was riding too high even when in the drops, because my fixie has a quill stem at that same angle and I was feeling uncomforable when switching back and forth, and because *I* like it better that way.

Don't mouth off like you know my reasoning for what I do with my bike. Even if I did decide to flip my stem because it's the 'popular' thing (which is complete and utter tripe anyway -- most quill stem road bikes have stems at that level), it's my own damned business to do so.

So back off, there, Opie -- don't make me fetch Aunt B. on your ass.

Not sure if you were trying to agree with me or argue, but yes you're right. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I don't know why they started selling "road race" bikes with raised bars in the first place. There was no such thing as a flipped UP stem when I was racing. Most stems were parallel to the ground to begin with, and that was before threadless so you couldn't slip them at all.

If you're referring to me: I'm not flipping for popularity. I'm flipping because the bikeshop's fitment was a little wrong (but free and very short) and I want to see if flipping the stem will resolve it. I fully understand comfort being key. When it was flipped up, however, the bars felt very high (almost unreasonably so) and they were too close to stretch my arms out and get a good resting position. I also can't extend long enough to really open my chest for breathing. I'm also considering a new handlebar that's 2 or 4cm wider, which would help me feel more a little more stable and open my chest up even more. Definitely going 2cm wider (to 42cm) on my next bike, if I don't get around to it on this one.

Oh I was not trying to argue. It was more of a rhetorical question / devil's advocate type thing.

As far as why they sell road racing bikes with raised bars, my theory is that it's done for sales purposes. Joe Public comes into an LBS, and he wants a racing bike, like he saw on OLN. The LBS suggests a comfort bike, but Joe does not like the stigma associated with riding a comfort bike. After all, Joe wants to go fast. But if Joe gets on a racing bike and has to bend down 4" past the saddle to reach the bars, Joe's back and neck are going to hurt, so he may not buy the bike. But with the raised bars, Joe sits on the bike and thinks, "yeah, I can do this" and the sale is made.

Besides, anyone who's an experienced cyclist will know he can just flip the stem to get the bars in the right place, but Joe may not know he can flip the stem up, and the LBS doesn't want to have to keep flipping stems up for all the people like Joe, so they just ship them that way.