mschwett 

i asked my fitter this question as well, waiting to hear back.

i want to replace my stem and bars with a one piece cockpit. currently i have 440mm bars, a 100mm stem flipped 6 degrees down. the bars have a small rise, around 10-15mm.

the cockpit choices are 440x110 or 420x100. at my fitting (before the stem was flipped) we switched from 110 to 100 on the stem, and he noted that 440 was perfect for my shoulder width. i’m thinking it’s better to keep the 100 and go 20mm narrower, since the shorter stem seemed to help a lot.

current fit is pretty good, i just want to get a bit lower (enjoying riding the drops more and more) and drop some bike weight - savings should be around 150g. doing about 100-125 miles a week, typically 3 20 milers and a 40-80 on the weekend.

for reference, bike is an “XL” turbo creo, i’m 6’2 and 185-190lb, fairly “normal” caucasian male proportions in that range.

Moisture

stick to what you have now.

shelbyfv

There is certainly no reason to compromise fit to achieve weight savings on an ebike. I expect that even if you weighed 400lb that motor could pull you up to governor max w/o a hiccup. Have you already removed the spacers from under the stem?

mschwett 

i ride it with the motor off 95% of the time or more, and it’s obviously a heavy bike to start with. i also just really like the look of the integrated bar and stem.

there aren’t any spacers under the stem, just the shroud over the future shock. paying a little closer attention on my last ride, pretty sure 10mm longer would be bad. my hands tend to fall a little rearward on the hoods even as is.

so i guess it’s 420 width, 10mm less on either side .. or leave as is.

shelbyfv

That's a lot of weight to lug around if you don't need it. Think I'd just get off and walk the 5% I couldn't ride.

mschwett 

not gonna walk up a 1500’ climb lol. i like to cover a lot of ground, see different roads and places, have decent endurance but can’t climb those kinds of grades for an hour.

but yes, i’ll probably add a non-e bike to the quiver for rides that don’t have a ton of climbing.

Carbonfiberboy 

Even if the ride does have a lot of climbing, just get a larger cassette. We have a low gear of 24 X 40 on our tandem. That works just fine, we get up the hills, no need for auxiliary power. So one goes slower, no BFD. Most of us ride for the joy of it and the fitness it provides, not for time.

PeteHski

I don't see any benefit to this change. 150g is nothing and you will be using the motor anyway where it would make a tiny bit of difference (really steep climbs). So it all comes down to fit vs looks. One piece cockpits look nice, but could compromise your fit.

Phil_gretz

I'm not really down with this change, either. Carry one less fig newton along?

mschwett 

well, 16 fig newtons. i get that a bit over half a pound isn’t going to turn a heavy bike into a climbing machine, but i like the way they look and feel and perhaps shaving a few hundred grams here and there a half dozen times will make for a bit livelier feeling bike.

in any case, based on the fitter and LBS advice i went with the 420x100, and will see how it feels! not installed yet.

Quijote

From what you said, you want it because of how it looks. But your current setup fits perfectly. I would put off the purchase of this new setup until you find one that fits and has the look you want. I know looks are important, but comfort and fit are more important.

mschwett 

conclusion to this... i went with the 420x100. feels great. 250g lighter in the front end is noticeable (or the placebo effect is VERY strong!) and it's really clean. i'm guessing that based on getting more comfortable in lower, more aero positions i might also have been OK with 440x110, but i'm not sure that i notice any difference in width between 440 and 420. it's definitely lower (no rise in the bar) and i really like it.

79pmooney

Are you getting full lung expansion with the narrower bars? Your fitter's test is one racers have been using for probably a century - because it works really well for an awful lot of us.

150 grams is little over 5 ounces or 1/3 of a pound. Edit: I just saw the 250 grams of your last post. Sorry.

And a trick for making too long stems work well - imagine that your favorite stem places your handlebars on s sloped line, lower at the headtube and higher as it goes forward. There is a slope where moving along that line (for short distances) doesn't move where your shoulders are when. For me, that happens at a very convenient "slope". 2 cm horizontally forward and 1 cm more spacer. (Not a true slope but very handy!)

So for me, I could offset that 10mm forward with 5mm of spacer and go ride a century just as happy. I ride with a fairly low back. Someone riding more upright is going to want closer to 1 to 1. Maybe go out and buy 1mm, 2mm and a three? (Oh, that's right. You got the shorter stem. With it all the way down, you don't have many options.)

Carbonfiberboy 

I had a fit a few years ago where the fitter reduced my reach by 30mm. Frankly, I don't notice any improvement whatsoever in performance or endurance. Probably I'm a little less aero. He had me change out everything up front, so I don't see the value in going back either, too much fussing for too tiny an outcome. I'm just saying that 10mm more reach? Eh, unnoticeable after a couple days. More reach is good for you.

Iride01 

I really don't understand the lung expansion thing. I can narrow up my hands on the bars to the stem and have no difficulty breathing in a very aero position at all.

Is this more a problem for problem due to lengths of upper or lower arms or something else?

I'm not saying it's not a thing for some, I'm just not understanding what makes it a thing.

mschwett 

thanks for the feedback all! i tend to agree after a few hundred miles that 20mm of width is not a big difference. i notice the lower front end - which was one goal - and have gotten PRs left and right, which could be a total coincidence, but could easily be modest aero gains.

when the fitter reduced my stem initially from 110 to 100, it seemed to alleviate some persistent left hand numbness. a few thousand miles later, i’m (again) guessing that improved core strength and riding mechanics would make that 110mm OK again. but it feels good the way it is at 100x420. i also switched to a different phone on the bars which is 105g lighter, so the total reduction from the steerer up is about 350g or 3/4lb. it’s definitely noticeable, feels more nimble - but i’m not claiming 3/4lb is making me a ton faster or anything. it’s just nice to ride. 32mm GP5000 tubeless at 45psi, carbon rims, future shock and one piece carbon cockpit, very smooth and comfy.