A short stem will effect handling by making your bike feel twitchier. 70mm is quite short but unless you're riding a technical course, it is doable.

Having a short torso, I ofetn have to resort to 70 and 80 cm stems. The bike can handle well with a short stem, but it takes practice. Are you happy with your seat adjustment (fore and aft) on the rails ?

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Tony Verow MD
Durango, CO 81301
Averow@bresnan.net

The saddle seems fine and pretty much everything but the aerobars are in reach. The problem is with the visiontech bars. They have zero adjustability and are in my estimation a poor bar. But due to the new bike purchase I have to do with what I have at the moment. I am shortening the stem so I can reach the shifters and feel comfy without moving around all the time. The bikeis set up in a pretty foreward position but just cant reach the ends of the bars.

I think a stem swap is the only way, or am I wrong?

The VT bars come in four sizes. Have you considered a shorter version of the bar rather than the stem?

yep, I would normally take the time to get the new stem. When I bought the bike the shop told me that visiontech only did the bars in one size so I couldnt swap them out! bad bad shop! the stem seems to be thecheapest way to get everything down at the moment and the simplest way as I dont want to run new cables through a new set of bars.

My friend had a 50mm stock on her bike and always wondered why it handled so terribly. She's now has a 80 with the seat shifted slightly foward and handling is much much more stable.

I had a 100mm that had me too stretched out. I ordered an 80 and a 90 to try out, put on the 80 first it fit better never tried the 90. Riding on the aero bars is no sweat hardly noticeable.

the jerk said it before but why not say it again? reply....fit is fit. it's first what you feel (out on the road) second what your fitter sees and third what the "science" says. personally the jerk wouldn't trust anyone besides a coni manual and a guy who's name ends in a vowel with a brazing rod and torch...but the jerk digresses.....triathlon and time trial bikes are a different beast but road bikes built in the italian tradition want long stems....they handle better, ride better and were concieved around a certain balance of weight which requires a long stem...look at the pros..almost without exception 120mm stems or bigger. lots of guys on 130s, 140s even 150s. not even just big guys but the midgets too...some of the pure climbers like shorter stems because they could give a rat's ass how their bike descends....but the fact of the matter is people talk about fit all the time, "buy the bike that fits you" huh? they all fit you. you can generally get the seat and the bars in the right place on anything....the question is how will it ride? how will it balance when you dive into a corner at 40km/h or are pushing through a packed peloton up some really steep short hill....or descending the other side of the col.....the jerk says your stem is too short....the jerk hates to say this but you bust your ass training in three sports; the least you could do is sign up once a week for the hottie at the gym's $8 yoga class and get some flexibility so you can properly fit a bicycle.

jerk

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http://www.echelonbicycles.com

wise words...

will fit yoga into my schedule by doing it on the compressor deck at work.. not sure about the stretchability of nomex though...

I agree on a road bike with traditional road bars no way would I want one that short. But, I ride on my aerobars and it is fine. My road bike has an 100 that is as short as I would go on it.

I didn't know dick about fit when I bought my bike and the long top tube had me a little too stretched out judging from my shoulder angle from torso.

I agree wioth the 100mm being short for a road bike. But I am attaching this stem to a tri bike. Not really looking for balls to the wall handling round corners and hard decents, just straight line speed.

is 70 too short?

Like I said I ride an 80 on my tri bike and it handles fine with the aerobars. Try it out you can always go longer.