Stem change

[Justinslow]

Hi, I'm thinking I need to shorten the stem on my road bike, currently it wears a 120mm Ritchie item which seems to make me stretch to the bars even on the hoods with very straight arms, do you think dropping down to 60mm is too severe? And will that bring the bars too close to the stem - does this matter?
Cheers, Justin.

 

[potsy]

Sounds a big jump that Justin, could you flip the stem first to bring the bars closer?

 

[Justinslow]

Maybe I'm just worrying about nothing, but the bike was bought with no "size trying" just pot luck! Here's a pic taken by my 6 year old so you get the idea - good or bad?

 

[MikeW-71]

That actually looks pretty much right, your arms are slightly bent when on the hoods. It certainly doesn't need a 60mm stem IMO. If you still need to change it, 10mm shorter will make a lot more difference than it sounds.

 

[400bhp]

Difficult to tell and in no way am I an expert, but the shape of your back looks good with a nice curve and like Mike says, there's a slight bend in your arms.

Are you holding the bars tight there which is why your muscles are sensing in your forearm? IMO the tension should be more in the upper arm.

 

[RebornBumbler]

Doesn't look stretched to me - flip the stem over as suggested if you want to be a little less forward and more upright.
If you're relatively new to a road bike, you'll find that you soon become more comfortable with the position anyway, though.

 

[wajc]

Doesn't look bad to me.
Leaning up against the fence and trying to balance a bike at rest does not replicate the position when riding properly though. Probably why your arms look a little tense.
I've changed a stock 120mm stem to a 100mm stem on my road bike with no noticeable handling problems but I was led to believe that if you go too short the steering can become twitchy.

 

[cyberknight]

As said maybe drop to a 110 or 100 and see how it feels, i dropped 10 mm off mine as my neck hurt and i was able to also lower the bar 2 spacers and still felt a lot more comfy .
Out of interest is your saddle height right ? hard to tell from the piccie as your legs are together but it should be heel on pedel with leg straight to give right seat height when the foot is on the pedal .

 

[screenman]

Rotating the bars slightly would brings the hoods higher and closer to you, it could easily gain the 10mm you may be after. Worth a try with no outlay.

 

[youngoldbloke]

^ this, so that the bottom of the bars is pointing towards the rear brake.

 

[Justinslow]

Thanks! All useful info, yes I was leaning against the fence trying to not fall over and not put too much pressure on the rear wheel!
Maybe for now I'll just rotate the bars a little as suggested and give that a try, and I will re check the saddle height. Yes I am new to the bike having come from a mtb doing occasional small rides, I've now covered around 190 miles in 3 weeks so for me a massive step up. The bike just feels a little " long" up front. Cheers, justin.

 

[screenman]

This is a way they used to guess year's ago, with your elbow on the tip of the saddle how far are your fingers tips from the bars? They used to say they should just touch.

Funny enough after different bike fits that works on mine, but that could be down to my shape.

 

[RebornBumbler]

The nose-of-the-saddle to centre-of-the-bars measurement should be elbow-to-fingertip of one arm plus the width of four fingers (a sideways palm) I believe.
(And it's certainly very close for my road and hybrid).

 

[Justinslow]

Just been out this morning did 61 miles https://www.strava.com/activities/191037580
Adjustments definetly made the ride more comfortable - rotated the bars up a bit and adjusted the front of the saddle down a bit to take a bit of pressure of the nether regions, although I still think a shorter stem is in order. Doing the saddle/arm measurement gives me more than 4 fingers aswell as the arm, probably more like arm + 6 fingers?

 

[cyberknight]

Just been out this morning did 61 miles https://www.strava.com/activities/191037580
Adjustments definetly made the ride more comfortable - rotated the bars up a bit and adjusted the front of the saddle down a bit to take a bit of pressure of the nether regions, although I still think a shorter stem is in order. Doing the saddle/arm measurement gives me more than 4 fingers aswell as the arm, probably more like arm + 6 fingers?

I think the finger thing is a guide as it all depends on torso , arm and finger thickness etc etc .Mine is reach + 2 fingers
Another guide is hands on hoods and where the stem meets the handlebar should hide the front wheel hub.