So with the help of this community and its archives I'm the owner of a new Windsor Clockwork roadbike. I'm around 5'4 and riding a 52cm. The bike is fast and nimble but one thing I really don't like about it is that I feel like I'm bent over way too much while riding. I talked to the guys at my local bike shop and they told me it's probably because my stem is too short.

How do I go about upgrading the stem on my bike to make it longer? I saw some parts on bikeisland.com, but I'm such a newbie I don't even know where to begin.

Sounds like the frame size might be too large for you.

I'm confused. Do you feel cramped or too stretched out? Or is the saddle/bar drop too much for you?

The frame size is ok, I think. I bike around on my friend's 56cm frame and it feels fine. I feel too stretched out, like I'm leaning too far forward, and looking at my bike I have a feeling I could fix this with either a higher stem or raised handlebars, or both. I'm not committed to riding with drop bars at all and would not mind buying raised bars for the sake of comfort and the health of my bike.

So I'm wondering how one goes about upgrading such components intelligently, and so here I am, asking the internet elders for advice.

It seems like you could flip your stem.
1. Remove the handlebars.
2. Loosen the two bolts opposite the handlebars.
3. Remove the little rubber cover on the top of the steerer tube and loosen the top allen head so you can remove the VP cap.
4. Take the stem off, reinstall it so it angles up, rather than down.
5. Then reinstall your drop bars, or your new risers.

You have a 26.0mm clamp size, just search 26.0 riser bars on ebay and take your pick of color, sweep, width, etc.

FITMENT QUESTION?




>>>FITMENT CALCULATOR<<<

There is a fitness element to this question as well. You might be more comfortable with the fit as it is if you were pedaling a little bit faster. If you use Jaytron's calculator you should probably use the easiest fit that they provide.

I have a clockwork and I had to raise the stem too since I have mustache bars. What I had to do was use all the spacers that came with the bike, flip the stem to the higher angle, and installed a Delta stem riser. The Delta is ugly but it got the job done and it was cheap. So now I have my bars about as high as my saddle, which is more comfy for me.