Originally Posted by
Kapusta
Some people just need a different fit from the norm, and outlier stems and spacers are the way to deal with it. And in many cases there is really no downside other than fashion.
That's exactly it. And it has to do with anatomy. If you have a short torso and long legs, there is no bike on earth that will fit you properly unless you go custom. You'd be in severe pain if you rode one off the rack without an extreme stem, actually. Cyclists are the biggest dorks caring about what some other guy's stem looks like. The culture needs a massive overhaul. I don't know why it has attracted so many dorky snobs.
On the plus side, I got this bike dialed in near perfectly. I had to go with a 90mm, 65 degree stem, and 40mm of spacers. There is zero fit problem or any other nonsense. I simply have the legs of a 6"2 man and the torso of a 5"7 man! Now that I'm comfortable, I can bike hundreds of miles...and fast. I bet I could blow away a lot of the dorky snobs.