-12 stem: Go one size shorter?
06-03-21, 11:16 PM
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-12 stem: Go one size shorter?
Wanting to try a -12 degree stem, primarily for looks, but curious how best to retain a proper fit.
Right now, I ride a 100mm -6 with one spacer above the dust cap. It's slightly long (I swapped to bars recently with a little longer reach), so I probably need a 90 -6 right now anyway. If I go to a -12, will I need to either raise the stem up a spacer, go with an 80mm, or both? I'm pretty flexible, so I'm not worried as much about the bars being lower as I am with them being too far out, causing me to uncomfortably reach for them.
Right now, I ride a 100mm -6 with one spacer above the dust cap. It's slightly long (I swapped to bars recently with a little longer reach), so I probably need a 90 -6 right now anyway. If I go to a -12, will I need to either raise the stem up a spacer, go with an 80mm, or both? I'm pretty flexible, so I'm not worried as much about the bars being lower as I am with them being too far out, causing me to uncomfortably reach for them.
06-04-21, 09:36 AM
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You got the idea. Why do you need our blessing? Just order a shorter stem. I've got to do that myself, but I'm picky about the brand and mine is out of stock right now.
06-04-21, 10:16 AM
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I don't have an answer for you, but a thought. I wondered long ago if I could offset the extra-long head tube on my commuter by using and extra-long stem (thinking quill and horizontal - ie -17 in today's terms). Drew a picture of that bike superimposed on two bikes that fit me very well. Sketched my body on them, locating my shoulders. With a drafting compass, I drew an arc through the good handlebars, using my shoulders as the center. (That arc is essentially a straight line for the 6 or so inches we care about here.) Drew a horizontal line from the high handlebars of my commuter to the arc and measured. 180mm! Gambled. I paid a framebuilder $160 for a custom 180mm -17!
I loved that stem and have used that line ever since to set up new bikes. (For me, that line has a "slope" of 2 cm horizontal, 1 cm in line with the steerer. In other words, a 110mm -17 with no spacers is the same as a 130mm -17 on 1 cm of spacers.) You are using non-horizontal stems so this gets a little more tricky but with paper, ruler and protractor you can do the same thing.
I loved that stem and have used that line ever since to set up new bikes. (For me, that line has a "slope" of 2 cm horizontal, 1 cm in line with the steerer. In other words, a 110mm -17 with no spacers is the same as a 130mm -17 on 1 cm of spacers.) You are using non-horizontal stems so this gets a little more tricky but with paper, ruler and protractor you can do the same thing.
