Sputnik With New Wheels
 

My new wheels came in the mail today. Bright silver Velocity Deep Vs. I like them. If you go to the flickr page, there's a link underneath for a comparison to the old wheels.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/...ca5a20f3_z.jpg
Sputnik With Deep V by bhop, on Flickr

I want your bike. what seat is that?

thats a lot of spacers

Thanks. Brooks Swallow.

I know.. it's the only thing that annoys me, but I like to be comfortable since I ride this bike between 80-100 miles per week. If I drop the bars, it looks better, but it's just not as nice feeling. If I had a step up in frame size my nuts would rub the bar (i've stood over one). This size seems to fit me with this setup. I've ridden for hours and felt pretty good afterwards. I guess my proportions are weird or something..

hows it feel? I may have to pick one up, its shexy.

The saddle? Felt great right out of the box. I have a Swift on my Aurora, and it took some break-in time, but it finally feels good. I thought the Swallow was gonna hurt for a while because it's got thicker leather, but it actually felt better than the already broken in Swift. I was thinking about getting another for my new road bike, but i'm not sure yet.. it's the most expensive model.. (aside from titanium rails version anyway) If you do decide to try one, wallbike.com has a 90day no questions asked return policy.

Flip your stem over and remove some of those spacers.

I can't understand why people will run a mile of spacers just to have a stem as close to horizontal as possible. A flipped down stem with a lot of spacers not only looks really dumb, it is structurally inferior to flipping the stem up and using fewer spacers. A flipped up stem with fewer spacers may not look as awesome as you might like, but you certainly will look less like a clueless poseur. It will also be stiffer and lighter.

+1

Otherwise, I dig it.

It doesn't look to me like that stem has a lot of rise / drop, so flipping it will do very little to reduce the number of spacers. What is really needed is a frame with a longer head tube and a sloping top tube, but then we be uncool so never mind.

Very nice! really like this bike

Your bike looks great! The seat does look nice, and should for the price. Glad it's comfy. Where did you pick up your Deep Vs?

I don't understand how this makes any sense. If you look at his photo again, his stem is definitely angled up atm. Its not a drastic 30 degree rise or anything, but its a far cry from slanted down.

interesting - it looks a lot like my bike. However, mine is a KHS track bike, used 90% on the track, and has more agressive setup with the handlebars. Other than that, they look pretty similar.

Nice bike! :-)

The spacers are annoying, but it doesn't bug me 'that' much.. i've seen worse (although mostly in the commuter forum), and i've seen quill stems that are as long or longer that don't seem to get any hate.. *shrug Or maybe they do and I just haven't read about it.. *shrug again*

I might try flipping my stem to see how it is. I think I tried it once when I had my track drops on and didn't like it for some reason.. It might be different with the horns.

It looks like a 7 degree stem which is pretty typical angle for stems. It doesn't have enough angle to slant down, given that the steerer tube is angled ~73 degrees. Still, flipping it over will still cause it to angle upward an additional 14 degrees from its present angle, which will will allow the OP to remove at least one of those spacers and maintain a similar bar height.

For what its worth, I usually leave one or two spacers above my stem, so I don't have to buy a new fork if I end up getting old or injured or something and need a higher rise. I don't care how it looks. If the look of a flipped up stem or additional spacers bothers you, go ride 40,000 miles and then reassess your priorities. By then, its likely you won't care how it looks either.

I am surprised you find the swift comfortable with your current set up since the swift is designed for an aggressive riding style. I have a swift and find it very comfy to ride with my current setup, but I also have a greater saddle to bar drop.

This is a Swallow on this bike, unless you're talking about my mention of the Swift on my other bike. Either way, they both have a similar shape from a top view, I think I just have narrow sit-bones. I have a b17 that I tried for a while and it was super uncomfortable for me. I rode it for a few months, but it just had to go. Once I got the Swift to replace it, I finally understood about Brooks..

I tried flipping the stem and dropping it down one spacer/notch and man was it ugly.. i'd rather look like a noob dork.. if anyone laughs, i'll just do a mad long hipster skid.

isn't there an entire thread for posting your bike? I could be mistaken.

:lol: at hipster cat.

Kudos on your new wheelset and new Bianchi.

fix the seat .....

It's not broken.

Be careful not to crush your nuts on your too-high stem.

damn that is hot. can you post some pics of your brake setup?