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I flipped my Stem, and liked it
Recently I got a bug up my arse to get a proper "road bike". Currently, I have a comfortable but heavy drop bar bike (Specialized Tricross) and a light weight flat bar bike (Trek FX S 4). Honestly, the "comfy" drop bar bike is not that comfy at all. With that in mind, I wanted to simulate exactly how bad a "real" roadbike would be so i flipped the stem so that it was pointing down instead of up and i noticed right away that the bike looked better. SO, I took it for a ride and you know what? I thought that it was MORE comfortable than it had been with the bars sticking up in the air. I'm not young. I'm definitely not fit. This was not at all the result that I expected.
SO, if you ahve ever wanted to try flipping your stem for whatever reason, I suggest that you do it. It took very little time, it's easily reversed and you might actually like or even prefer it. |
Originally Posted by mr,grumpy
(Post 22907908)
Recently I got a bug up my arse to get a proper "road bike". Currently, I have a comfortable but heavy drop bar bike (Specialized Tricross) and a light weight flat bar bike (Trek FX S 4). Honestly, the "comfy" drop bar bike is not that comfy at all. With that in mind, I wanted to simulate exactly how bad a "real" roadbike would be so i flipped the stem so that it was pointing down instead of up and i noticed right away that the bike looked better. SO, I took it for a ride and you know what? I thought that it was MORE comfortable than it had been with the bars sticking up in the air. I'm not young. I'm definitely not fit. This was not at all the result that I expected.
SO, if you ahve ever wanted to try flipping your stem for whatever reason, I suggest that you do it. It took very little time, it's easily reversed and you might actually like or even prefer it. |
Originally Posted by Tomm Willians
(Post 22907939)
Nothing wrong at all with experimenting with one’s bike fit. I would be interested to know though, have you ridden it like that a long distance? (Or long for you). My neck just cannot tolerate an aero position like that for very long. I do much better on aero bars than slamming my handlebars. I do see a great number of riders whose saddles are MUCH higher than their bars so obviously it works for them.
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Same here .... i can ride the long-and-low aero position for 45-minutes or an hour and it feels great .... and then the pain starts, mostly in my neck and trapezius muscles, and then spreading in all directions.
If all my rides were 45 minutes or less (or if I were more fit and flexible) I could set up my race-geometry road bike with a pretty extreme, aggressive stance. However, at the speeds I ride, aero is hardly a concern. Glad it is working for you, though. |
Thanks. Now that song is stuck in my head. :lol:
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
(Post 22907963)
Thanks. Now that song is stuck in my head. :lol:
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
(Post 22907963)
Thanks. Now that song is stuck in my head. :lol:
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One sometimes gets paradoxical results in bikefitting. A couple years ago, I bought a new bike, a Canyon, direct from the manufacturer. (It was early in the Pandemic). When I received it, it had the stem set at the highest point, on top of a full stack of spacers. I adjusted the saddle height and setback to match my other bikes, and left all the spacers in place. First ride, my hands kept going numb. Conventional wisdom would say the bars were too low so I was putting too much pressure on them, but it turned out the bar was an inch HIGHER than all my other bikes. I moved 25mm of spacers to above the stem, and that bike is now comfortable for any distance I can manage.
So, discomfort on the bike related to bar height or reach is NOT always about the bars being too low or too far away. Sometimes, it's the opposite. |
The real test, IMO, would be to ride the new position for a while, long enough to get used to it. Then, go back to the original set up and ride that to see how it now feels. There are times I have done that, and found that I liked the original set up better. I think it is a mental thing where the change feels good just because it is different.
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What if .... both positions felt okay? :D
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Originally Posted by Maelochs
(Post 22908114)
What if .... both positions felt okay? :D
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
(Post 22908130)
I ran into that issue -- turns out I had a 0° stem.
we can close it down and resume tomorrow |
Did it taste like cherry chapstick
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Originally Posted by Tomm Willians
(Post 22907939)
Nothing wrong at all with experimenting with one’s bike fit. I would be interested to know though, have you ridden it like that a long distance? (Or long for you). My neck just cannot tolerate an aero position like that for very long. I do much better on aero bars than slamming my handlebars. I do see a great number of riders whose saddles are MUCH higher than their bars so obviously it works for them.
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I'm a small 5'-6" rider, just turning 70. I still use an 11cm saddle to bar drop.
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I have a Very bad back.
Changed my stem , raised it as far as I could, and eventually flipped it. Really worked for me. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...01afac2d5a.jpg ' https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9e48e4e808.jpg ' https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9b9d305ee5.jpg |
Originally Posted by genejockey
(Post 22908042)
One sometimes gets paradoxical results in bikefitting. A couple years ago, I bought a new bike, a Canyon, direct from the manufacturer. (It was early in the Pandemic). When I received it, it had the stem set at the highest point, on top of a full stack of spacers. I adjusted the saddle height and setback to match my other bikes, and left all the spacers in place. First ride, my hands kept going numb. Conventional wisdom would say the bars were too low so I was putting too much pressure on them, but it turned out the bar was an inch HIGHER than all my other bikes. I moved 25mm of spacers to above the stem, and that bike is now comfortable for any distance I can manage.
So, discomfort on the bike related to bar height or reach is NOT always about the bars being too low or too far away. Sometimes, it's the opposite. |
Originally Posted by Polaris OBark
(Post 22912142)
My wife had this identical experience. But if you think about it, it does make sense. If the bars are higher up, you will be leaning on them more. If you are balanced correctly on the saddle, there will be a point where you lower them where almost no weight is on them.
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Originally Posted by roadsnakes
(Post 22912124)
I have a Very bad back.
Changed my stem , raised it as far as I could, and eventually flipped it. Really worked for me. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...01afac2d5a.jpg ' https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9e48e4e808.jpg ' https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9b9d305ee5.jpg |
Maybe it doesn't reach enough
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Originally Posted by anduin z
(Post 22920693)
Maybe it doesn't reach enough
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I am going to ask the mods to edit the title of this thread because ot gives me an ear worm every time I see it. :D
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Originally Posted by rsbob
(Post 22921060)
Then you flip the bars over. Sheesh
And dig this. One of the people in my cross country tour group had a bad back and neck and rode with his drop bars flipped up. He sat virtually vertically. Made his very unstable. The second day of the trip we had to cross a floating bridge on Puget Sound. The strong crosswind blew him over. But the guy survived 2.5 years in a Nazi P.O.W. camp during WWII as a member of the R.C.A.F., so he was allowed to do anything he wanted as far as I was concerned. He turned 77 during the tour. Lived to be 90. |
OP probably kissed a girl, then flipped his stem. Then flipped it again and again. Now he's having some vision issues.
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
(Post 22921099)
Not sure if you don't believe in this, but it was a thing in Philly back in the 70s. Some people would flip drop bars up on their ten speeds so they couple pop wheelies easier.
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