Why did you do that?

I talked about bikes that if in my post above. I have had many bikes that didn't fit. Wasn't going to learn until years later I should have a longer reach tot he handlebars than can be done on most bikes without ridiculous stems. As a result, I rode those bikes with my stems slammed (And hit the HBs many, many times with my knees, sometimes hard.

Until I had my eyes opened, all my stems had dents in their throats. I now have custom stems on two bikes plus 130, 135 amd 140 stock stems on others. The insight I got 29 years ago was that I could move my handlebars along a line of "slope" 2 cm horizontally and 1 cm in line with the steerer and not change my basic position. A very useful number. Now I love my HBs on that same line but much further forward. A lot better upwind. Biggest drawback is climbing very steep hills out of the saddle on wet roads or sand. (Rear tire traction with my weight that far forward.) But out of the saddle climbing all day is wonderful on that same setup.

So now when I see slammed stems I think "he's not enlightened yet". (Edit: Enlightened threadless riders have a spacer or two on top. See my post first page.)

Ben

I should post one of my bikes, I have about 50 or 60mm of spacers on the headset. Looks dumb, but its stupid comfortable and allows me much better visability when out riding around in traffic.

Slammed with a -17 degree stem and track drops is the only way to roll.

I actually like to keep spacers for a little bit of adjustment, at least 10mm but no more than 30mm or it gets ridiculous looking and your frame is either too small or wrong geometry. Sometimes ppl are just lazy about cutting their fork and have a stack of spacers above the stem until they finally get around to it lol.

Aesthetically, I find a level stem more appealing than a slammed stem.

only if its a level top tube slammed with the stem matching the angle of the tt is good

My stems all reach, longingly, skyward from atop majestic stacks of spacers. My back (arms, neck, etc.) thanks me.

My Roubaix has a small stack of spacers with a negative stem, but my SS has a quill stem I had to hack 2cm off to get it as low as it is - but it's definitely not slammed.
My back can't do the heavy lean, either.

Keirin downward stem FTW

This thread is the worst.

Yours is the best post of the whole thread.

i have a rule- if you run more than 30mm of spacers, your frame is too small. i've done it before on past bikes, but no more. i feel so much better when my back is stretched out. i tend to roll my shoulders forward if the bars are too high and end up in pain either during the ride or right after. i finally cut the fork on the mr pink today. don't plan on running any more than 10mm under the stem.

Calls 'em like I sees 'em.

Or if that's sarcasm I detect:

Stem height is going to be different for every single person and then that changes for each type of bike they own. There is a practical answer for everything and an aesthetics to everything. Find the place where both work for you, or decide how much of either you're willing to sacrifice.

It's like asking how much seat post I should run. If you have the right size frame, it's obvious.

stam that slem

See, along with this, I feel like if you are much over a 100-110mm stem, you are on too small of a frame.

i can agree to a point. right now i'm running a 120mm stem with a fistful of seatpost. if i went up a size, i'd have zero seatpost and negative standover.

Depends on what kind of position you're looking for, and tall guys often need longer stems too. 130 plus isn't uncommon on pros' bikes.

Yeah, pretty much every bike I have has a longish stem and/or plenty of stack height. Only my freakish 68cm frames balance the two out. Does that mean I need a modern sloping top tube wonder bike?

Stem length is going to vary with the size of the frame. Larger frames with taller headtubes need longer stems. It's about putting your hands over the front hub, as this is where the sweet spot of steering is. A longer headtube puts the handlebars back for the same length stem, so a longer stem is needed to get the weight back to where it needs to be.

Slammed.



Can we all go home now?

This is the new best post.

It would be perfect minus those silly comfort/cruiser bars with all that rise. Shoulda used track drops or just some metal or carbon rods mounted to the fork, like a real cyclist. The only time one should use a stem is if they can't ride a bike.