Talk to me about stems and drop

ejbeach01

Ok, I am in the market for a new stem.  My current one is 100mm and +-7 degrees.

In talking with scott and matt regarding my fit, they felt I should get the steepest angled stem possible because I can always add risers or whatever to brign it up.  I am 6'2 on a large Trek Eq 7 and my seat is up fairly high.

Anyway....I don't know crap about stems.  As I look online I see some that have +-10 degrees but mostly less.  I've seen one or two with more...but then I have seen a bunch that say 84 degrees.  What's that all about?

Anyway...can someone recomend a decent stem...or at least tell me how to understand all this crap. 

mancona

How many spacers are under your stem now?

I use this website to compare stem options when changing bikes: http://alex.phred.org/stemchart/Default.aspx . You can put in your current setup and then try othre combinations and see how it compares.

Think about stems as being based on 90 degrees or perpendicular to the steer tube. A 84/96 degree stem is exactly the same as +- 6 degrees. It's pretty easy to find anything from 0 to 17, after that the choices get much more limited, but I have seen 25 and 30. Adjustable stems are also available as well.

I agree and I personally use a -17 whenever possible for a few reasons, but mainly because I'm anal and a -17 stem on a 73 degree head tube bike makes the stem horizontal and therefore a bottle of computer mounts better.

I like the Ritchey WCS -17, the 3T ARX team -17, or if you want bling the Zipp SL145 -12.5 is awesome.

ejbeach01

There are no spacers now. We yanked all those a few weeks back. That took me from probably 0 drop to 8-9 cm now. Unless I get a new stem or lower profil aero bars, I can't get any more drop.

I have the aero bars...but they are a Christmas present, so they can't go on the bike for a couple months. But over the next 8 weeks I'd like to start getting used to the lower position...so at least some of the intervals will be down on the aero bars.

I've been thinking about going to the guy everyone uses here, but until I have the necessary equipment on my bike I don't want to do that. I'm thinking in January I'll probably give that a shot and see what changes he makes. That way I know what my optimal aero position is...and I can be up a few cm during the OS for comfort, but still in the aero bars. That way when the season starts I don't have to spend a lot of time acclimating to the aero bars and then the wicked aero position. I'll only have to drop a few cm and be done.

I found the #t one, a lot of the sites like trisports just didn't have it. But I found it on probikekit after some digging. Thanks for your help. At least now I have some idea what I'm looking for. May just head over to the LBS and see what they have.

mancona

The easiest one to find is usually the Ritchey: http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&biw=1073&bih=593&tbs=shop:1&q=ritchey+WCS+100+73&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=7942f7809ae40227

I have bought a few from ebay for under $80 total in the past and they work great.

Keep in mind that you may also need to look at a 90mm or 110mm depending, thats where I find the stem comparison link I provided so helpfull. Also, the new aerobors will likely change the position of the elbow pads so you will have to measure everything again.

I personaly use the slowtwitch FIST system to measure all my bike setups and then it is easy to mess around with different components and always have the same fit.

grosso27

Looks like Matt pretty much summed up anything you might need to know. 

Only things you'll have to consider are steer tube diameter (1" or 1 1/8") and clamp diameter (26.0mm or 31.8mm).

Ideally you'd get exactly what you need, but shims can be had for next to nothing if you need them.

To help you play around with different drops, you might consider a Specialized stem with the adjustable shims.

Basically the way it works is you buy the stem based on length and included are 3 shims that go over the steertube but under the stem, and they are all beveled/reversable, thereby giving you about 6 different rise/drop options based on if your stem is normal or flipped.

They come in 2 or three ranges, with the stem being something like 12°, 17°, or 20°.  You can adjust from there in 2° increments based on the shim, up to 8 different angles I think.  They go for cheap on eBay.  Might be a good starting point for you.  

Also, this is getting picky, but as you change stem angles, you are altering your stack & reach a bit, so keep that in mind. 

ejbeach01

thanks for your help.
my problem is that I don't know crap about bike fitting. I am hoping I can bribe matt and scott with some beer and pizza to come over and help me understand all this junk and get me fitted a bit better.

grosso27

Give this a read when you have some time.  Everything won't click at once, but it will help you get some of the hows & whys, and will at least help you be able to talk about fit & geometry.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/Tour_de_Bike_Fit_649.html

mancona

Start with the EN Bike Fit ebook.

Then move onto the Slowtwitch FIST articles:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/F.I.S.T._Tri_bike_fit_system/The_F.I.S.T._Method_for_fitting_triathletes_to_their_bikes_16.html

Then read the stack and reach primers:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/Choosing_a_Tri_Bike_via_Stack_and_Reach/Stack_Reach_Primer_Chapter_One_95.html

After all that you will know more than enough to understand everything about bike fit. Getting it right however takes help from someone with experience or some trial and error.

I personally did it myself with a video camera and posted videos here when I thought I had right.

mgraffeo

Eric, a word to the wise, it's really easy to ask a couple of buddies to help out with fit, and much later find out that they don't know what they're talking about. Meanwhile, you've been wondering why you can't put out any power in this ridiculous Dave Zabriskie position. I'm not saying this describes your buddies, but it does describe some buddies.

There's some calculations in the FIST primer that give you a pretty good starting point based on some measurements. Start there. Then work with the EN bike fit Ebook to figure out which directions to go, and what compromises you're making.

kjanracing

Get a Look Ergostem. They are fully adjustable. When you find YOUR position, buy a fixed stem that matches the ergo. OR just leave the Ergostem on. Sure, they are a little heavier, but don't anybody tell me they couldn't lose 150 grams of their bod!

William Jenks

Is there any chance that you can buy the stem you need from the LBS, particularly if they have a couple adjustable stems for you to mess with? Seems to me that it might be worth the comparatively small premium you'd pay for the ability to try the various angles and lengths before you buy.

FWIW, I've kept the approach as simple as possible and gone with the -17 so that my stem is parallel to the ground. [I didn't drop this kind of money on my bike to ride it like a sailboat. :-) ] Over the years, i've moved the stem up and down with spacers. I have ended up with it as low as it could go and ended up having to buy a longer one than I started with...but having it parallel to the ground just made it one more thing to not have to worry about.

BTW, if you end up lengthening your stem, you may end up having to re-do your cabling - I did. The problem was that the lengthened stem didn't allow the wheel to turn quite as far as it should with the cables restricting the motion. Yours may or may not have this issue. While I make minor adjustments to my bike, that's was not one I wanted to deal with, so it added to the cost.

Chris G

Eric - before you wast any nore time and money messing with your bike fit call todd at ttbikefit.com. He will wet you up. Sounds like you are all over the place with this. Its time to ignore your buddies and get professional help.

William Jenks

@Chris - what time of year do you think is best to have someone (e.g., Todd) take a look? I don't feel like my fit is bad, but I'd still be happy to have a third eye have a look. Do you see that as something to be done as we're starting to go outside in the spring? or earlier or later?

mgraffeo

William, I generally think you get the most value from a fit if you do it before you are about to spend a lot of time on that bike. I don't ride the tri bike much over the winter, so I go through a lot of fit stuff in the spring getting back on the bike. If you are going to train on the tri bike all winter, it might be valuable to do it earlier in the process.