I’m pretty happy with the position on my CX bike and it’s ok on the road too which is good as my CX bike is also my winter (and crap summer) road bike and do a good few road miles on it.

But… My proper road bike has a much longer / lower position and it actually feels better on the road.

So, I could swap stems when either riding CX or road on my CX bikes (I already change the wheels over) but it’s a bit of a faff and I did wonder whether there are any adjustable stems out there that people would recommend as a simple way of doing it. I guess that stems with faceplates that have fewer bolts to undo/do up would be advantageous too.

From what I’ve seen, there are the Ritchey stems which look good but need complete disassembly to change the angle or the various M-part, BBB and so on ones that have a single bolt in the side that allows adjustment without loosening the steerer clamp. Reviews/etc suggest that both designs are secure enough for on/off road use. These do seem pretty heavy though (250-300g).

The other alternative is the Spesh stem which adjusts with wedges (and I have one for a different bike) that are very secure and it’s fairly light but it does mean that you have to take the stem completely off the steerer.

Anyone seen any other stems/designs out there?

The pic shows my current set up (approx 6deg +ve rise on the stem, 31.8, 110mm) with 2cm of spacers underneath. Ideally, I’d probably like the stem closer to flat for the road or at least a good bit flatter.

Syntace VRO stem.

Have one on my MTB and occasionally move the bars lower/forward for long climbs.
Can’t find a pic/link as on phone. Google it.

Funnily enough, I actually have one of those but it’s 25.4 size so only works on an mtb. Shame as if it was available OS, it’d certainly do the job.

adjustable stem

My hybrid boardman had one of these when bought, always worked fine

Moon on a stick I reckon. Even the 150 quid 3T one is still about 250g. I’ve got a 20 quid System EX one on the turbo bike, it’s easy to adjust but it does weigh a tonne.

Could just swap the spacers from under the stem to on top of the stem?

Sounds like an excuse for another bike to me, absolutely identical to that one but with a different stem, you know it makes sense 😉

I have a Ritchey one (120 I think) that you can borrow to see if you find it too much of a PITA

(but I think amedias has the answer)

I think that might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back given the number I’ve already got 🙂

scaredypants – thanks for the offer – looking into options but might take you up on that.

errr… just turn it upside down Dylan? -6 won’t be flat, but it will be a lot lower than that! It’s only 5 bolts(or maybe 7 if you have 4 bolts on the face plate)! It’ll feel longer too.

All adjustable stems (bar the specialized ones you mention, which only require 3 bolts to change) are really horrible looking, and that is the most important thing, as you know.

(Apologies for low cost solution!)

That is the simplest solution of course.

It does however mean faff getting things just right each time I swap it over.

An ergo stem would be ideal except that they’re rare as hell, silly expensive and IIRC quite flexy.

With the getting things right bit, can you not just mark your current set up with a line from the stem onto the bars and then when you flip the stem and get the bars set up how you like them then mark the other side of the stem onto the bars. This could be done in the same spot so that when you flip the stem you just line up the marks and off you go.

Yes, you can but even then it’s still a bit faff. As I said, I’ll have one of these, please