djb

not sure how i phrased it, but yes she knows she has too much weight on her hands, and is uncomfortable. Me , being the bike nerd that I am, pointed out to her with a measuring tape how long the toptube as well as the overall reach is on her bike. She also rode my wifes shorter toptube bike with straight bars (which I had also put a shorter stem on which helped her) and right away our friend saw how it was more comfortable for her.
The nashbar idea is neat, although realistically, for the amount of work involved, most likely her bike would go to a taller family member, and a diff bike that fits her better would become something to look into.
Also, the nashbar road bike shown would be too "roadie", gearing, tire width limitations etc, prob not fender ready etc etc, but thanks anyway.

Six jours

Several factors at work here, including the already mentioned leverage and body weight. The truth is that nobody can predict the effect stem length will have on handling for any given individual. The only thing that's almost certain is that handling will change slightly. Whether the individual will find this good, bad, or unnoticeable can't be known until it's been tried.

Personally, I've used everything from 2 cm. to 14 cm. and been fine with all of them.

djb

merci monsieur six days, both for the take on effect, as well as your experience with diff sizes yourself.
cheers

ps, I really liked seeing that 1955 touring club flim, had seen it before somewhere, but its neat to see again and to see how things havent changed all that much (that sort of day outing is my type of riding, exploring a new area and being out on nice country roads, although not usually crossing fords even if crossing paths with Fords does happen)

Six jours

Hope it helps. I think we tend to overthink these things. It is, after all, "just a bicycle".

I sometimes get depressed about the state of the sport (here in Southern California, bicycling is almost exclusively about much you can spend and how fast you can go) but those videos always cheer me up. If only I could find something like those roads and scenery (and attitude!) over here...

djb

around here in Quebec anyway there is a fair amount of tradition of bicycling touring, biking for transportation, and while yes there are always roadies with the attitude you mention, Im sure there is a lot less of it here. I guess a big part is the climate, plus in general Canadians do outdoor stuff more. I grew up hiking, canoe camping, cross country skiing etc so bicycle touring or exploring an area on bike was just an extension of that attitude. The friends I bike with dont even own pure road bikes. I have friends who live right near Vermont and there are some lovely lovely day rides near their place.

as for the stem, ya Im going at this for my friend simply in the hope that I can get her bike to be more comfortable, Im doing the same for another female friend, so its just really trial and error to see what we can improve and as we all know, a few cms here and there can make all the difference.

ciao

Ciufalon

As others have said, it is the perception of the individual riding the bike that matters. I generally use stems that are 60mm but have used 50mm stems as well and don't really notice so much difference that i cannot get used to it immediately. I asked a similar question some time ago here. I also had a member in one of my other threads suggest a method for getting the proper reach adjustment that worked well for me. He said for me to put my elbow against the front tip of the seat and that with my fingers extended, the tip of my middle finger should reach the center of the bars. Some may find that to be short for their liking, but it was spot on for me. Might be something worth checking out.