With all the road bikes out there with stems giving a Nazi salute, it’s clear that a large majority of road bike riders/buyers are looking for a far more upright ride position. So is it;
A – Bike companies are making the wrong shape bikes and customers are adapting them
B – Customers are buying the wrong shape bikes and are adapting them
C – Usual STW response of “Stopwhiningaboutotherpeopleenjoyingbeingoutontheirbikesandbesidesthisisamountainbikeforumyouwhinycockbag”

This is the sort of thing I mean;

Discuss.

‘Slamming’ stems because it’s fashionable, then realising it’s uncomfortable.

Godwin’s Law?

Just happy to see you?

A consequence of people buying a racer
when they need a tourer.

Surely a”grin from ear to ear” inducing fatbike would be better for that beach?

Road bikes are cool due to recent British suceess in pro cycling. It’s the bike to be seen on. Lots of people riding one would be a lot better off on a hybrid. But they buy a road bike to commute to work on and then try and turn it into a hybrid. I’ve had this discussion with more than one person but they can’t see why a hybrid would be better for carrying their work kit, bumping up and down kerbs, having a better riding position for heavy traffic and being more comfortable in general.
It’s fashion, basically.

PP, I’m not talking about Altura-Man on his commute, but I certainly agree with your point there. This is the full Rapha sporting rouleur du Dimanche out on the lanes.

Combine your point re cycling success and Rusty’s re tourers and you’re there! Most people do a few hours of a weekend, and a nice comfy tourer would be far better than a “race” bike with a SS-Saluting-Stem.

Nazi stem or stem Nazi?

Who cares?

If they’re designing a bike a certain shape that gives a range of stem height options to suit different tastes and rider shapes, seems to me they’re doing it right. If every stem was slammed and spacerless that’d almost certainly mean the steerer was too high and lots of people would rather have it lower.

I did a ‘B’. bout a salsa vaya: off the Internet of course. Head tube was too long, even negative 17 degree stem too high. So I had 25mm cut off the head tube.

I said I’d never by without demoing. But I did.

I think lots of b rather than a. Or bikes with not enough steerer tube- carbon steelers don’t help.

You’re a fashion victim. Give it five years and you’ll be complaining about brewers droop stems.

Head tubes are getting longer on road bikes, so it ain’t that. That Bianchi doesn’t exactly look like it would have a low front end, even with a proper stem angle.

nazi stem 😆

Nazi stem or stem Nazi?

Who cares?

I’ll put you down as a C, shall I?

😉

Dirtyrider, it seems the right term, don’t you think? 😀

This seems like a good place to insert this comment.

I’m an over competitive git, and nothing gives me more pleasure than dropping carbon’d up roadies when out on my decade old steel audax/tourer.

Mind you, I also have a carbon road bike with the stem flipped the ‘wrong’ way.

A consequence of people buying a racer
when they need a tourer.

THE most sensible thing i have read on here for months.

Not too sure why anyone would even care. The stem on my road bike gets flipped over depending on the current state of my spine.

Surely the bike does fit them, but with a nazi stem… it’s like saying you don’t like tea if you take sugar in it. Yes you do, you like tea with sugar.

A,B and C are all wrong. It’s because most people spines are not as flexible as a pro cyclist’s. Easily solved by one of 2 options:

1 suffer like a proper roadie (surely suffering is half the point)
2 buy a cyclocross bike and don’t worry about being 1mph slower, you won’t notice the speed because you will be having fun rather than suffering.

I opted for the later.

This is the full Rapha sporting rouleur du Dimanche out on the lanes.

Most people do a few hours of a weekend, and a nice comfy tourer would be far better than a “race” bike with a SS-Saluting-Stem.

Rapha are already pushing the PBP and Brevet angle, Audax’s are not really the domain of the blinged out Pinarello crowd though….

i think the nazi stem look is wrong, but a nice road bike with a nazi stem is a much better look than some of the horrible looking sportive bikes (such as a giant defy) with a stem fitted normally

The magic word has been spoken

‘Sportive’ innit!

The roadie marketing equivalent of ‘Enduro’

Like they’ve been selling **** big awful heavy deep section wheels at a k a pair to riders who can’t average much more than 13mph

‘Sportive’ innit!

40 quid

Audax

6 quid

I’m all confused, I just bought my first non MTB its a hybrid

I commute 12 miles each way and I’m dropping blinged up rapha wearing, possibly Nazi stemmed, roadies like the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on the east end 😉

I had to flip the stem down tho as the headtube is massive

There’s a guy comuting on a fat bike (with frame bags) that I see quite often and I can’t catch him

The fixie teeny bar riding couriers weave thru buses to beat me

But theres 1 guy on a felt or maybe cube with a really upright stem that I can’t beat, he’s on a freaking ebike and beats me up down notting hill grrrrr

Whats worse than nazi stems is when they are nazi stems sported by triathletes.

#AERO!!!!!!!!

This is the full Rapha sporting rouleur du Dimanche out on the lanes.

Nah, this thread ain’t about stems, it’s about Rapha bashing of which you are rather keen.

Pointless.

And boring.

More roadie threads…. 🙄

i think the nazi stem look is wrong, but a nice road bike with a nazi stem is a much better look than some of the horrible looking sportive bikes (such as a giant defy) with a stem fitted normally

Love to know how you come to this conclusion, or is this a thinly veiled I hate disc braked road bike thread diversion.

Who cares as long as they are riding their bikes and they are comfortable.

STW sucking the life out of riding and encouraging others to ride.

Nah, this thread ain’t about stems, it’s about Rapha bashing of which you are rather keen.

nah its stems,

99% of my kit is rapha, stems though 😡

although this seasons sale certainly went on a long time, 5 weeks? riding the crest of a wave i guess

nah it’s stems

Yep. I could equally have mentioned Assos or any other brand.

sale certainly went on a long time, 5 weeks? riding the crest of a wave i guess

From the top of the crest, the only way is, erm…….

😉

That’s not a stem.
This…now this is a stem…

IMAG3386 by pten2106, on Flickr

What bollox ,you put the stem where you need it, my quill stem is raised to the position I need it .All you Johnny come lately`s should go back to golf !!

PP, I’m not talking about Altura-Man on his commute, but I certainly agree with your point there. This is the full Rapha sporting rouleur du Dimanche out on the lanes.

Same thing. Fashion. 🙂
Also, that’s what they’re doing during the week, commuting on them. I service a few high end road bikes that commute every day. They’re ****ed, absolutely knackered. I’ve told one guy he’s using the wrong bike. He knows. But he doesn’t care. He spends hundreds servicing it. Certainly more in the last year on servicing than a basic-ish hybrid would cost…..
Also, if they want to be comfy, why not?
I had the stem on my Madone in the low position. It was fine. I now have the stem on my CdF in the high position, as it suits what I’m usimg it for better. 🙂

From the top of the crest, the only way is, erm…….

comfy feet?

The wheels on that bike you posted, CFH….They’re stupid wheels. Wouldn’t last ten minutes with me. 😉

Peers over at bike to check it’s not racist. Nope, good honest non-nazi stem there

I”ve got ‘wrong’ stems on my road bikes, still got a 10cm ‘drop’ to the bars.

(I’m a lanky streak of piss)

Benji,

I come to that conclusion as i like the look of a traditional road bike with horizontal top tube and flipped down stem. I do not like the look of many of the new sportive bikes, but that is just my personal preference.

But although i don’t like the look of sportive bikes, i think sportive bikes are great as they have made cycling more accessible to a greater range of people by making road bikes with less aggresive riding posistion and a lower range of gears, they have made road bikes accessible to people that would be normally put off buying a race bike by the aggresive posistion and the high gear ratios. I just really don’t like the look of them.

I also think that bisc brakes on road bikes are long over due. And once they are approved for road racing i will probably be getting some.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
… So is it;
A – Bike companies are making the wrong shape bikes and customers are adapting them…

Very much the case. Blame racing fashion. The customers want Ferraris but their fat guts need a cruiser.

Back when bikes were transport, frames were much bigger, and the saddle was supported by just an inch or 2 of seatpost. The headtube was were therefore much longer, and so the handlebars (even dropbars) were carried higher. The quill stem gave the rider the ability to raise the bars, and this is something I miss on modern bikes on a long day’s ride – popping the bars up an inch or two after several hours riding makes the remaining hours much more comfortable.

I like a Nazi stem on my commuter,it makes it easier to see what car/road condition is going to try to kill me next.