Road Bike Stem Angle Up Or Down
Bars on the right are rotated upwards compared to the ones on the left.
Road bike stem angle up or down. Most road bikes use threaded forks and take a stem that slips inside of the fork s steering column. As a rule of thumb on a road bike you shouldn t run a stem much shorter than 90mm or much longer than 130mm. So the formula is. Tightening the bolt pulls up the wedge and the wedge jams against the inside of the steerer securing the stem to the steering column.
I prefer to have my bike set up so the stem angles up to reach my preferred handlebar drop. φ 90 θ s where φ is final angle above level θ is you actual fork angle and s is the stem s angle can be positive or negative so for example a 6 degree stem on a 72 fork you will get 90 72 6 12 degrees above level. By loosening bolts holding the bars to the stem bars can be rotated upwards downwards. For a standard 73 fork angle a 17 will end up being level with the ground.
Road bike geometry explained. Bicycle with three different stem lengths. Allowed handlebar tilt is to be between 180 and 175 degrees with respect to the level road. The stem will have a long bolt running down through the vertical part connecting to a wedge at the bottom.
This size specific approach goes a long way to getting you set up with the correct stem length providing you ve chosen the right size frame another area where a bike fit comes in useful. If the angle is. Using more material longer frame head tube and or steerer tube and spacers and angling the stem down to get the drop right is just adding weight for no reason. While they may never be pointed down at all they may be angled up slightly.
Generally speaking stem lengths on road bikes vary from 80 to 140mm with 100 to 110mm perhaps the most common sizes. So a rider who wants a really agile bike might choose a smaller bike using a longer stem and. The brake levers will preferably be mounted such that the end of the brake lever is even with the bottom of the bar. If you need a stem length beyond those extremes your bike frame is the wrong size.
If you need to alter the reach on your bike this video shows you how to flip the stem. And it will have implications on set up. Bars can be rotated up or down.