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Road bike stems

I could buy a new bike tomorrow and set it up myself and be 98% correct. The extra 2% is where the money is going.
That's another important point to keep in mind: once you get the basic setup right, you can set up another bike fairly quickly and fairly closely to what your optimum was.
 
@OreoCookie I kept switching back and forth between drops and a flatbar on my Cannondale and finally settled on flat bars with a longer stem. Works for me. On my Surly, I've always had flat bars and now a Jones H-loop (which I really like). And for whatever reason, I get a lot better braking power from the flat bar brake levers than from the brifters, which is great on the long descents.
 
Here is my oooooollllldddddd post... .


Did my fit this weekend with Chuck...

OK - so what did we learn?

The Rider:
Measured my legs - right leg 1mm longer. the difference is in my fibula.
Checked my feet and arches. Inspected the shoes for wear and stress.
End result was small arch supports added. Nothing major and not overly noticeable.
Cleats are re aligned and due to wear on my crank arm - my feet are moved out a bit.
Learn some about which muscles are working at what times.... got to see some slides and such and a quick education.

The Bike -
Seat down - roughly 25mm
My seat was a bit too high and my ankle was opening up near the bottom of the down stroke.
On video, you could see just a little bit of hip rotation - it seems I was opening my ankle to limit this.

With the seat coming down, I now wanted to push back on the seat.
Seat back roughly 6mm
On video - compared my pedal stroke after adjustments - knee was making roughly the same motion, ankle stopped opening up as much (I believe the ankle will always be an issue due to 'how I ride')
So I have rotated back on bottom bracket - my initial setup was more a TT setup.

The bontrager seat I have sucks. (I replaced it this afternoon with an SDG Seat I have on another bike.)
The seat angle took a while to get due to the 'flex' in the bontrager seat. Just with your hand, you can collapse the middle of the seat roughly 3.5mm
Once we got the seat right, my pelvis was more rocked forward allowing my back to be straighter - eliminating a lot of the 'arch' that was in my back.

So - with the seat height and position adjusted, we moved to the front of the bike.
31Br-yp0sfL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

This tool is freaking awesome! You can adjust the height, reach while using your Handlebars mounted on your bike....

With this mounted - Chuck setup the bars as far forward as possible.
He had me close my eyes and spin. Pulling the back back until they felt 'right'
I stopped a few times thinking it was comfortable, but then decided there must be a more comfortable spot.
So I kept changing while keeping my eyes closed...

In the end, I found a sweet spot. Woot!
It happen to be the exact same stem length I had, but I moved the bars lower to the equivalent of flipping my stem. - cool, I don't need to buy anything.
So - since the seat came down, it makes sense for the bars to drop as well.
On the video when spinning you can now the desired 'A frame' shape between my back and arms.

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At this point, the fit is better than I have had in the past.

But this continues - now - the fitting goes from profile to now head on.
Lasers are set up to track knee and foot movement....

Houston... we have a problem.
Non drive side crank arm is bent!!!

Knowing this - we continue on.
My right leg tracks well, left has issues... but there is the issue with the crank arm.
My stance needs to be widened, however that will require pedal extenders.
----

In the end - I have not put any miles on the fit, so I will give a followup later.
We compromised on seat height.
He asked after I ride this for a couple weeks to drop the seat 2mm and give that a shot.

Overall good learning experience.
 
@OreoCookie I kept switching back and forth between drops and a flatbar on my Cannondale and finally settled on flat bars with a longer stem. Works for me. On my Surly, I've always had flat bars and now a Jones H-loop (which I really like). And for whatever reason, I get a lot better braking power from the flat bar brake levers than from the brifters, which is great on the long descents.
Good that you changed that, I figured that would be a better solution for you. If speed is not your aim, flat bars are a great option.
 
For the record... I have thrown up on a bike 3 times.
All three times I was in the drops...
I don't think I made that connection until now...

Maybe this is why I prefer to be on an mtb...

However... My road bike has never put me in the hospital...

Faaaaack, I think I need to just go back to hiking.
 
So my adapter came and I bought a cheap Cannondale stem from Cycly (100 mm and 6 degree rise). Ive loosely fitted the adapter, stem and my new bars and checked my position. Seems to be pretty similar to before. I'll post pics when I've finished the job.

@bloaker Thanks again for your offer before. Tbh, the stem I bought only cost 900 yen so I figured I can always get another if I don't like what I've got.
 
If it feels good, then you can ride down to zushi and play with the stems I have at the house.
If anything, just for personal knowledge.
 
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