What degree is your stem?

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Permalink Reply by Evan Andrew Bybee on August 13, 2009 at 11:22am

I've had several questions myself on this subject. I recently had a couple teammates of mine go to Andy Pruitt and Todd Carver up in Boulder to get fit on their road bikes. I asked if they could ask these 'fit gods' about setting up multiple bikes for different disciplines...(mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes, etc.) The answer they got suprised me....They said the fit from bike to bike is almost exactly the same. Maybe going from a road bike to a cx bike or mtn bike, you might set it up a bit higher, but other than that its the same....With that said I would put the same length stem on your bike as you would on your road bike If they share the same length toptube...if not, you compensate the length discrepensies in the toptube with different length stems.

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Permalink Reply by Hank on August 13, 2009 at 11:28am

I have heard that as well regarding stem length but degree is what I am more curious about. I heard the same thing about setting it up a bit higher but trying to figure out how much higher. Guess it is more personal preference and which discipline you are coming from. Regardless curious to see what people have theirs at.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on August 13, 2009 at 11:40am

Hank, degree won't really tell you much without also knowing how tall is the other riders headtube, how thick is the stack of spacers they are using, headset stack height, etc.

The most relative absolute measure for this is from the center of the front axle to the center of the bartops. And of course that changes with the height of the person.

Saddle to bar drop is also pretty useful here, but again changes with the rider height/build.

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Permalink Reply by Cyclocross Magazine on August 13, 2009 at 5:10pm

to get even more technical, the axle-to-crown measurement changes from road bikes to cx bikes, and bb drop/height also would affect it all. drop and reach from saddle is prob the best way to consistently measure the fit...assuming seat height and fore/aft position are similar to a road bike.

rear tire traction, visibility, descending steeps and riding trails could be reasons to have it higher, at the possible expense of some front wheel traction in cornering and more bumps going to your tush vs. arms.

some find themselves just spending more time on the hoods in cx, less in the drops, so a similar setup to a road bike can work in that situation.

let us know what you settle on.

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Permalink Reply by Darren on August 18, 2009 at 10:47am

I know the fit gods say one thing, but I run my Cross bike handlebars a lot higher then my road bars. I ride with Salsa Bell Lap bars and ride almost all the time in the drops. I find having the bar higher I am able to have more contol where on my road bike in the drops a lot more hunched over. I think if you ride your hoods then sometimes the drops I would agree you might just make your bar a little higher.

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