Old 03-29-19, 05:02 PM
  #5  
Carbonfiberboy 
just another gosling
 
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Everett, WA
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Bikes: CoMo Speedster 2003, Trek 5200, CAAD 9, Fred 2004

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The post with the photo brings up a good point. You probably have a slammed -17° stem (or you should have). However there are also angled stems which can be flipped. You can't get into the position in the photo because your bars are too high because your headtube can't really get much shorter. So you drop your bars lower with a downward angled stem. You want your drops down somewhere almost even with your front tire. At your height/weight, you should be able to get quite low before your thighs hit your stomach in the drops. You want to be just a hair shy of that feeling.

Although the photo guy is too cramped on that little frame, he probably rides it because it's lighter and stiffer. He pays for it in that position by having his back bent so much his innards are cramped. I breathe a lot easier with a straight back. He's moved forward on the saddle to open his hip angle to help with that. All that said, it's illustrative of the back angle you want to achieve with level forearms.

You could go to a bike shop, have them put your bike on a trainer, and look to see what you could get away with for a down-angled stem.
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