Frreed

I've been riding road bikes for about the last 30 years. In that time frame I ended up riding infrequently for several years, but have gotten back into it over the past couple years. In my 20s and 30s I rode classic race type bikes. Getting back in, and being 55, I picked up a Giant Defy 1. Overall I love the bike and the more upright geometry worked well for me as I got back on the road.

Now I am finding the upright position to be less efficient for most of my riding. I also have an old Paramount production bike that I have restored and ride on occasion. I actually feel better a bit more stretched out and a bit lower.

The Defy has a zero rise stem. Just doing some basic figuring, I am considering changing out to a -7 stem and, maybe, moving the stem down by one spacer. My question is what affect, if any it will have on the bike? If it sharpens the handling a bit, that would be a plus.

The bike is just a year old and I really like everything about it. I have just gotten better on the bike and want to fine tune things a bit.

fietsbob

Threadless stems with open face plate bar mounts are easy to change . Just do It, discover for Yourself.
the effect is a perception You will Have .

[73 - 90] 17 degrees to be level -7 would be 10 degrees Up or flipped it goes down a bit ..

Maybe your Local Dealer has an Assortment of stem lengths and angles in the Shop to Try ..