you are having an interesting experience. it is hard to comment, even though I am commenting. too many variables to be able to provide much feedback.
you don't say size of bike, bar drop below saddle or not, a Brooks saddle with short rails can screw up all mm adjustments. i just replaced a modern saddle with a brooks and went from a 9 cm stem to a 12...on three bikes. i am also moving forward as, after many years sitting back, i am finding a better pedal stroke further forward on the bike. i ride big bikes to get more headtube, get the bars a couple of cm's above saddle height. i might guess, if you are using drop bars and an 8 cm stem, it either is a good fit for you body dimensions, or you frame is too "long". just a guess. if you are smiling while you are riding...most of the time...it's all working correctly. nothing like like hand or butt ache to wreck looking at the scenery. On Nov 29, 2:13 pm, Rene Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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.
