yamaguchi ... I haven't seen anyone with a yama stem yet. Don't get the CKT, then we'll have another thread about why your back hurts if you actually ride in the drops.

The whole, "Well, it looks fast" thing it getting old. Just use a stem that actually gives you a decent bike fit.

The CKT wins hands down. And I swear i'm not biased ;).

No but, depending on the angle of your headtube, it really isn't that bad. I've been on a couple 50+ mile rides with it, and nothing really hurts at all (except for my ass :(). I'll be using it for both street and track racing.

The only gripe I have is that it takes too long to get to the US. 18 days for me.

The key is to rotate the bars forward so that they match the angle of the stem. Thats how you really get good fit.

How often are you riding in the drops?

With a drop stem there is eventually a point where there is a loss of power. Not to mention a loss of control. How much bend is in your arms when you ride in the grips of the drop? Is your back parallel to the ground?

he wanted a "non ugly threadless stem" i showed him what i thought...all you *******s need to stop with the judging...i am personally really getting sick of it. maybe some kids *gasp* actually ride the track! jesus christ. there are different things for different applications.

I know that the deda stem is an option, I'm just sayin' what i think about THIS stem, not other ones.

and i hope you're not serious about the angle of the bars matching that of the stem...that's just about the stupidest thing i've ever heard...even if it is true. especially on a stem like that...I use a stem with a 7 degree rise, so you're saying that my bars should also be tilted 7 degrees up? you're a ****ing ******...I'm sure glad you know EVERYTHING...cause I'd sure be lost without you.

-Jason

God the internet sucks at conveying sarcasm properly. He was totally joking about the bar thing, like people who line their saddle angle up w/ their deep drop stem.

Whenever I speed up I go into the drops. For the track I use them specifically. I get a lot of power out of my riding style as well. Maybe how I set up my body? Dunno.... but it works. Bend? Probably > 45 degrees. Not exactly sure, but there is a little. Back isn't parallel unless I do it on purpose. I usually keep my back at an up ward angle when sprinting. I feel I can get more power this way because of my shoulder position, which allows me to lean into the drops so to speak. I also have broad shoulders, so using their weight when sprinting helps a lot.

+1

Yeah we're all joking, don't worry.


The whole reason I was asking about arm angle is because you want it to be bent a good deal in the drops during hard riding and not just during sprinting, since you can only sprint for a couple hundred meters max. If it's only a little bit bent during sprints when you nose up on the saddle, then you are more likely to lock out . Full-on sprints are only a short period of most races, so it's more appropriate to give a good angle for control and consistent comfortable power application. Straighter arms drive it like a bus, shorter like a sports car, that's what my coach always says.

Ah I see what your saying. Whenever I am not sprinting, my arms are a little more bent because of the fact that I am back in the saddle, so my whole body goes back a little and gets lower since I am not standing. I'm sure as I train more my style will change for the better (hopefully heh), but right now I feel the best doing this. Thanks for the tips :).

yeah Dosh, if the stem is comfy and works then keep that **** on there because your bike looks better than sex. As long as you are comfortable and feel like your are getting the power down, then that's all you need right now, you figure stuff out as you go. Recently while racing it blew my mind how just telling myself to spin faster, not harder made me so much more smoother and faster feeling on the track. Racing is addictive as ****.

Yea it is. Racing is like a mathmatician figuring out math and the thrill they get out of it, just without the boring math :D.

No offense to math wizards. Heh.

i have a chrome syntace f99 on my cyclocross bike. really shiny. i don't know how well that would go with a black bike, but it looks great on my bike.

I've always like this

Someone posted these, and I thought they looked sweet!

http://www.cambriabike.com/Images/pr...road_stems.jpg

They are sweet. My favorite threadless stem in which I can't afford.

:(

+1 Salsa. I love their threaded/threadless stems. They are just so amazingly solid.

+1 on Thomson Elite

Is the Thompson Elite love based on design/aesthetics or the simple fact that you can't get the X2 in as many sizes?

Nah the design on Thomson Elite is awesome. The way the clamp method to the steerer tube is flush is great. Also, the clamp area to the actual bars is wider than a lot of stems, which makes it atleast look a lot stronger. It's a MTB stem, so you know it's going to be damn strong too. Also, it's not too heavy. It's machined out of a single piece of 7000-series aluminum, and you can just tell the quality.

I have been using the cinelli vai since April and really like it. I switched from the 3TTT mutant. Which was so-so IMO. The vai also comes in different angles depending on the length.

Angle:+/6 degree (50mm, 80mm)
+/-17 degree (100mm, 110mm, 120mm)

http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sel...es/1/57852.jpg

I line up my saddle with my 0º Drop stem.

i think my thomson elite is pretty sexy. i have it in silver (with a thomson silver seatpost too) in 110 length.

i've toured the factory twice now on ronnie's bday in january and can tell you the quality is there. dead sexy, too...http://www.lhthomson.com/images/x2proto.jpg