Hi all, I just spent a couple of hours this morning putting back the Noodle bars after trying the Randonneur 45cm handlebar and not liking it as it's too narrow. I first tried the 48cm Noodoe with the 10cm stem I already had; I'd been riding the Noodles with a 9cm stem and feeling a lot of hand pain and discomfort since I got the AHH. Going on a short test ride, I could feel my hands hurting right away and my back strained. The actual position didn't feel too weird, but I could tell that if this is how I was feeling after 10 - 15 minutes of riding, after an hour it would be much worse.
I then came back home and decided to go straight for the 8cm stem I had gotten last week to see if it improved my problems. By this point, I'm getting to be an expert at just removing the right shifter without having to remove the cable (just pull the cable all the way, and then without pedaling push it back all the way in so there will be extra cable that allows you to remove the shifter but leave it hanging), although to remove the handlebar from the stem I have to remove the stem first in order not to have to undo the front brake. I've been testing it without cabling the rear brake. Everything in my head tells me that the 8cm stem should be too short, but as soon as I start riding, the magic clicks in! It is totally unbelievable... the shoulders relax, the back relaxes, the hands feel significantly less pressure, it all just falls right into its proper place. I don't know about you, but once you have experienced that feeling, you know you've nailed the position. There might still be a small bit of adjustment here and there, minute handlebar rotation, minute stem height adjustments, but you know you've got it. That is exactly how I felt, and you can bet that's how I'm going to be running it now and see what happens on longer rides. I'm still waiting for the Surly rear cable hanger I ordered from VO, so the Racer brakes will replace the Silvers when the hanger arrives, hopefully by next weekend. Now, besides feeling that position magic, I did detect a "difference" in how the 10 vs 8cm stems feel when turning the bicycle. I'm not sure I can explain it properly, and I certainly didn't have the option to try the same turns with two identical bikes with different stems, but it somehow felt that with the 8cm stem, I had to "work" the bike more if I wanted to take an aggressive turn. With the 10cm stem, it seemed like it was easier (less effort) to take the turns. This was a bit surprising to me, since I know from mountain biking that a shorter stem makes the handling more responsive and nervous, but then again, the handling of the AHH is completely different from what I was used to riding. I can't say I don't like how the bike turns with the 8cm stem, in fact, after the 15 minute test ride I had completely adjusted to how it handled, and that feeling of comfort was just so amazing... :-) So, does my experience in terms on how shorter vs. longer stems match yours? I know fit is very personal, and I think the 8cm is going to be the right one for me on the AHH, but I wonder if I've missed anything. I have yet to test how lowering the shorter stem a bit does to the handling and the comfort, but I'm sure many others will have additional feedback or can benefit from these "experiments". I now need to drive my daughter back to Berkeley, but when I come back I'll install the cables and tape up the handlebars to go on a longer ride. Can't believe tomorrow is Monday again... :-( René -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
