Stem-flipping?

beans

So I flipped the stem on my hybrid the other day with a view to lowering the handlebars by around 4 cm or so. While the bike used to understeer slightly, it now feels quite oversteery, and I can imagine a bit jittery at high speeds.

The new aero-position is great but I've a feeling it may cause problems later on. I suppose my questions are

- Would a racing bike display more oversteer than a hybrid generally, it's a Specialized Sirrus? Or should I be afraid?

- Has anyone come across situations when a flipped stem has lead to accidents after this type of conversion?

Cheers

copacetic

beans wrote:

So I flipped the stem on my hybrid the other day with a view to lowering the handlebars by around 4 inches or so. While the bike used to understeer slightly, it now feels quite oversteery, and I can imagine a bit jittery at high speeds.

The new aero-position is great but I've a feeling it may cause problems later on. I suppose my questions are

- Would a racing bike display more oversteer than a hybrid generally, it's a Specialized Sirrus? Or should I be afraid?

- Has anyone come across situations when a flipped stem has lead to accidents after this type of conversion?

Cheers

what angle is the stem? some of them aren't really meant for flipping, esp if it is a large angle on, eg 12 degree or so.

the bike will feel a bit funny since you are now set lower but the handling shouldn't have changed too much. it is affected by more of your weight being forward on the bike but you should be fine, if anything it should be more stable at speed, at least in a straight line. You will be less stable at slow speeds as you have to shift more weight to adjust the steering.

not sure that over and understeer really tracks across to bike riding, although maybe understeer does. would have thought as soon as you 'oversteer' on a bike you have crashed??:D

tbh to get the best of both worlds why not put the stem back and get aero bars. they will give you the stretched position when on them and normal handling when not.

beans

Over/Understeer were the best I had to describe the feeling. It's just that more immediate turning feeling you get, I guess from the weight being further forward and more concentrated on the front wheel

I can see it taking some getting used to alright. I like it though

blorg

Which Sirrus do you have? My Sirrus (Elite) had the stem pointing down to start with. Swapped the bars for drops recently and thinking of flipping it up (or getting a shorter stem) as although I do like the drops I feel a bit "stretched" (certainly my stem is longer than the ones I see on most road bikes.)

beans

My model is the entry-level model from maybe 3 years ago? Sora mech, V-brakes. The stem was originally angled up a few degrees, and with it flipped it's a degree or two below the horizontal.

I went for a spin last evening, and here's what I noticed with the new stem configuration:

- My profile on the bike is lower, and my weight further forward
- Lower wind-resistance thanks to the low profile
- As a consequence, more weight is being carried by my arms and legs, and less by my ass

It's a harder ride in that the position forces you to push, and isnt really conducive to sitting up and cruising. Handling-wise, it's certainly different, better in a straight-line and more responsive on the turns. On the whole, it'll take some getting used to but unless the stretch causes problems with my neck etc I'll be leaving the bars as they are.

Well worth trying :cool:

beans

To Blorg: if I feel as stretched out on the bar-ends with the stem as yours is, I can imagine life in the drops would be the far-end of comfortable!

I dont know if it's possible to install road-type stems on the forks your have, but I have seen Sirrus where this has been done. The ones I've seen have been shorter and some are very pretty like this.

Anyway, a shorter stem like this might help if you want to keep the drops?