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Stem Length

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway
View Poll Results: What is the stem length of your primary road bike?
>140mm
3
1.38%
140mm
4
1.84%
130mm
12
5.53%
120mm
32
14.75%
110mm
54
24.88%
100mm
49
22.58%
90mm
44
20.28%
80mm
12
5.53%
70mm
6
2.76%
<70mm
1
0.46%
Voters: 217. You may not vote on this poll

Stem Length

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Old 05-18-09 | 09:24 PM
  #26  
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90 on my main bike, but also have 80 on another bike.
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Old 05-18-09 | 09:24 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by g_carlos
What stem size represents the "ideal" bike fit for the typical rider?
That's a whole can o' worms right there, but most riders seem to find 100-120 to be the ideal length for handling purposes.
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Old 05-18-09 | 11:18 PM
  #28  
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I voted 120, though I have 120 on my "prime" bike, 130 on my slightly less "prime" bike; the reach ends up being roughly equivalent between the two. I've got a long torso and longer arms.
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Old 05-19-09 | 09:20 AM
  #29  
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I've got a 100mm 3T stem, so it might not be exactly 100mm if I read the previous posts correctly.
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Old 05-19-09 | 09:24 AM
  #30  
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The current stem is a 3t 110mm, which I measured at exactly 110mm.

Swapping it out today for a 120mm.
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Old 05-19-09 | 09:33 AM
  #31  
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Bikes: Specialized Tarmac SL2, Specialized Tarmac SL, Giant TCR Composite, Specialized StumpJumper Expert HT

I just wrote a big long thing and bikeforums ate it... but the gist was that 3T seems to measure by reach (flipped up) rather than extension like other stems. Angle decreases reach relative to extension so a 73 degree stem is going to have much more extension for the same "length" reach.
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Old 05-19-09 | 09:39 AM
  #32  
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From: Binghamton, NY
they may measure the (virtual) length of it using trig, ignoring the actual stem angle.
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Old 05-19-09 | 09:40 AM
  #33  
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My 3T stem is 84 degrees so just about 2 mm longer than what it should be depending on how you measure. I asked for a ruler at the store when I went to buy it - I think the salesperson thought I was crazy.
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Old 05-19-09 | 09:45 AM
  #34  
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Bikes: Specialized Tarmac SL2, Specialized Tarmac SL, Giant TCR Composite, Specialized StumpJumper Expert HT

These are the same "size"

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Old 05-19-09 | 10:47 AM
  #35  
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Giant TCR C2 Medium - 90mm Ritchey (survey bike)
Specialized Langster 56 - 100mm FSA
Redline Conquest 54 - 110mm Ritchey
Vintage Trek 1400 56 - 120mm no-name quill

When I bought the Giant 2+ yrs ago, I had it fit with a 120. I've gradually work my way down (...110, 100...). Think I've finally got it dialed in. Just went from 105 to 100 on the Langster. I have a nice Easton 100 I might try on the Redline for CX season. I'm in the process of installing a threadless fork on the Trek, just so I can tinker with the stem fit.

In the words of Pcad, "what's wrong with me?" ;-)
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Old 05-19-09 | 10:59 AM
  #36  
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From: CO
I have two 3T ARX Pro stems, 100 & 110. The 100 is dead on (C-C), the 110 is closer to 115.
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Old 05-19-09 | 11:00 AM
  #37  
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From: Conejo Valley, CA

Bikes: Domane SLR7 Disc

OCR2 with a 120mm. but it's interesting to me that the poll has more at 100-110. When I swapped out the OEM stem for this one, I just got whatever the LBS told me to get. I've had some fit issues for the years, now I'll have to re-visit this to see if they really got it right.
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Old 05-19-09 | 11:12 AM
  #38  
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From: sunny california

Bikes: e5 aerotec

Originally Posted by khatfull
On your primary road bike, what is your stem length? Just curious where the distribution falls.
the distribution always falls in a bell curve, i cant believe statistics paid off!!!
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Old 05-21-09 | 12:43 PM
  #39  
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I just ordered a 100 for my orbea opal, I had a 120 on there but i felt stretched on it for a while so I skipped the 110 and went down 2 sizes hopefully its a better fit...
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