Just slammed the stem again

[vickster]

Hiya , Could you take a pic of this , I’m not sure what a slammed stem is , but on my roadie I to get pins and needles occasionally
Cheers

Move the spacers above the stem if they are currently below it. Or do you mean flipping the stem as Johnny has described?

 

[gbb]

Stem orientation, flipped or slammed is a personal thing surely, different for everyone, a compromise between aero and comfort..
I talked about my peak, 18 mph averages (which compared to some are...modest) but I was doing that on a C2C Bianchi with a flipped stem for comfort. Add in the taller head tube, things weren't even remotely set up for pure speed. That said, my back wouldn't take a crunched up body position so I just used to try to be as aero as possible when circumstances allowed, mixing it with using all other contact points for comfort when needed. Your body will soon tell you when it's set up too aggressively.

 

[ColinJ]

I had photos of my bike before and after changing the setup. I have edited them and placed one picture above the other to illustrate the issue.

The upper picture shows my bike with a flipped 12 cm stem and spacers underneath. The lower picture shows the bike as it now is with a non-flipped 14 cm stem and most of the spacers moved to above the stem. I find this much more comfortable. (I have a long back for my height - legs of someone 5'10" tall and a back more like that of a 6'4" person giving an overall height of 6'1"!)

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, and I put shallow-drop bars on too.

 

[Milkfloat]

Oh, and I put shallow-drop bars on too.

And moved the saddle back?

 

[ColinJ]

And moved the saddle back?

Well spotted! I had done when that photo was taken, but eventually decided that I had slightly overdone things and moved it forwards again.

I am stuck with the saddle height being what it is because I foolishly did not take steps to avoid corrosion between the titanium seatpost and aluminium frame. It is stuck in that position now. I would have liked to experiment with putting the saddle down a little and then pushing it back again. Never mind - it is near enough ideal for me as it is.

 

[johnnyb47]

Just been out on my usual 30 mile loop and can report it was a success.. There's was no pins and needles in my hands and it felt generally comfortable all the way round. Yes it did feel a tad extreme, but hopefully over the coming rides i will get used to it a little more.. There was a slight head wind on part of the loop and felt like i was catching it a lot less on the drops. Even managed to equal a PB on Strava after 52 attempts.
Maybe all the miles covered over the years has finally paid off so i can now cycle in a more aero position in comfort. I also noticed that the handling of the bike felt better. It was less twitchy and i felt more planted when descending at higher speeds.
Climbing felt better too. Out of the saddle my arms were much more straighter whilst holding onto the hoods. Somehow this made climbing feel a lot more easier..
It will take a few more rides out though before i can say for sure ive done the right thing.
Many thanks for all the advice and thoughts given 👍👍💭👍👍

 

[ozboz]

My phone camera has got a dirty big scratch on the lens and is useless at taking images sorry. If you look at stem they usually stick away from the bike in a level position.. By undoing the top allen bolt and the two Allen bolts on the back of the stem it can removed off the fork steerer. The bar's will have to be taken off too.
The stem will then lift off the steerer tube and when flipped over, the angle of it will be pointing upwards. With the bars refitted the overall cycling position means your position on the bike will put more of your weight onto the saddle and less through your hands on the bars. In other words you will be be riding more upright. I'm sure someone here will be better than me to explain it.

gotcha !