Hi,
I thought I would ask my question here as you gang are obsessed with clean functionality of the bike more than members of any other forum.

As I am writing this I am looking at my newly set up road bike using ahead stem/steerer. I had to space up by about 2cm to get comfortable position with -10 degree stem.

I could get almost the same bar position removing the spacers and inverting the stem so it is rising.
The latter is stiffer, less parts etc. but looks ugly. When I browse bike images here most of the nice bikes using threadless forks have spacers and stem either horizontal or sloping down - so looks over function?

What's your opinion?

are you planning to ride your bike or just look at it?

I really wouldn't consider that to be a case of form over function... realistically, it functions the same and looks a bit nicer.

Riding it? Only when I am not on my fixie :-).

I guess I know what I would do. I wonder why most other people prefer looks to making the front end stiffer.

I have a slight rise on my road bike. I don't sweat it. Ride what is comfortable and don't worry about it. In fairness, if you are blowing by people on your rides, no one is going to think about your stem, but rather that you are a badass and teaching them a lesson. If the look bothers you, get something in between. On a road bike something like a 10 degree rise will be about horizontal while flipped. If with a horizontal stem you still need more rise on a road ride, you might want to rethink your frame geometry.

If you actually notice a difference in stiffness with 2cm of extra spacers then you're either 1.) A hideous monster and possibly made of concrete, or 2.) Insane.

2. for sure. :-)

yea on paper you take the derivative of this and the log of that then you will see that there is proportion x factor in stiffness. But in real life you aint gonna notice it.

While I could the computations you suggest (can you ?) sadly now I am talking real life here. It is not my first road bike, it is the first with threadless 1'' carbon fibre steerer [see attachment].

I am flexing the bar alot when I pull at it climbing hard from out of the saddle - the reason might be flex in el cheapo stem I put on for sizing but anyways I want to make this thing as stiff as possible, given best fit bar position.

v.

Since you haven't cut the steer tube yet, I would suggest leaving the spacers in with the stem level. That way you can always flip the stem later if you need that extra little bit of height. If you flip the stem now, remove the spacers and cut the tube short, the only way to get more rise would be to swap to an even higher (gads!) stem.

Ah, carbon.

You sure the source of the flex isn't the bars? Typically I will feel my bars flex long before the stem.

I got it - I have replaced the stem for heavier one the flex is gone. The remaining negligible flex comes from the bars as you suggest. I will avoid these accent stems as plague.

Thanks,
v.

Beg excuse. My fixie is cro-mo frame and cro-mo fork (threadless ) if this can speak in my favour.

Makes perfect sense. I will even add another 5mm spacer above the stem and put a nut above it, so I will have more options.
Thanks,
v.

Ha Ha No! What is that Statics? Horrible!

So is that Chorus on your Opera? Looks like a nice ride...

Nothing wrong with it if that's what you like. I was just saying that I could imagine a carbon steer tube providing some unwanted flex. But it looks like you figured out where it was really coming from.