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What's the panels view on a stem like this? - > velosolo.co.uk/kalloyswan.html or this one? -> velosolo.co.uk/kalin.html
Steering will be well twitchy with those stems. They're made for dutch bikes where the rake is really long so won't feel too twitchy. The geometry on this frame means steering is much more responsive. This bike was probably designed for drops so a forward reach of about 140 would be about right (100mm stem and 40mm bar reach - just an approximation of course). Unless you're T-Rex you probably shouldn't need anything too shallow. Are you bendy at all? Any yoga? Might need to work on the core a bit.
tallsam
FatOldManOnAFixie
I've been ridin', a-fettlin' and a-learnin' with ScobsWell recently. I've done a lot of riding and learning a lot about comfort and efficiency (I think!).
That adjustable stem that ScobsWell inherited from the Dawes has a reach too far and too high to get me in that super-comfortable position where I can just go for miles and miles in. So, I've been 'sperrymenting.
I've taken the stems off my partners old bike and my all-weather grotty commuter (ScobsWell is for bestest evening and weekend rides) and tried each in turn in addition to a pair of bog-standard straight bars I'd got from somewhere.
These 2...
The Alloy SR from my commuter beast was OK but it put me low and it was a bit of a reach still to the bars...
I did a big London Loop like this last weekend and I was fast (for me). But about 45 miles in my shoulders started feeling the strain a bit. So, this weekend I fitted the black stem...
Ooo, now thats not bad, I'm 'up' a little bit and need to re-adjust the saddle angle as I noticed I slipped forward a bit when I was gunning it a bit in 'big-kid-zooming-mode' . About 14 miles into a ride I noticed the stem wobbling in the fork steerer, erks! It'd moved and loosened off a bit, putting my glasses on (yes, I'm that old) I noticed I'd set it a little above the Max height line, my bad. Setting it lower into the fork tube I'm just into the aching zone again 40+ miles into a ride but its better than the SR. So I think I need a stem like the black one but with maybe less reach and maybe a bit of a longer stem length to be able to play with the height a tad more.
What's the panels view on a stem like this? - > http://www.velosolo.co.uk/kalloyswan.html or this one? -> http://www.velosolo.co.uk/kalin.html
With a shorter reach does the steering get too twitchy? I tried a very short reach stem on that old Carrera bike I played with last summer and the effect was extreme, I can't fit it onto Scobswell as its 31.8mm and Scob's is a traditional 1". I'm wondering if ScobsWell would be mellower?