Should you slam your road bike stem? Can this even be comfortable?

[@tongotongo3143]

Professionals ride on drops ~ 70% of the time. I love your new outfits, this carrot colour looks very nice with black, and also noticeable in traffic. So now you are 100% safe, and 100% fast.

[@Gianniz27]

Not anymore. On the hoods is more aero.

[@petesis7934]

I have found the same thing. I am 65 and I bought a Domane (Trek) Endurance bike but I wanted to go lower. I had ridden the roads in the 90s and my old bikes are pretty obsolete but the position on them was what I wanted to mimic. I dropped the stem, lengthened the stem, and moved the seat back. Much better comfort and I am trying now to do it to my daily frankenride. I enjoy your videos. Thanks.

[@dps2333]

One of the best videos I’ve seen out there in regards to slamming!

[@fede1275]

Thank you!

[@LarryGraham7]

Slammed stem for me =comfort & speed, high stem =pain. And moving my seat post or saddle 1-2 mm makes a huge difference. Merry Christmas to you and your family Federico,cheers.

[@fede1275]

Absolutely! Have a Great Christmas as well!

[@gradatim_]

My bikefit recommended an Endurace in size M, fully slammed 😈. Could have gone for the S and remove no spacers to achieve same result. Quite similar to your L-M situation. The fitter measured the pressure on the saddle & handlebars, which in a “slammed state” was lower for both. So less pressure on the hands and a more optimal hip position = better power delivery… slammed stem also looks better imo :’)

[@fede1275]

Exactly, nice to hear you had a similar experience!

[@cyclebicycle]

Very good video. Especially about the "related intrinsically to the type of bike you ride..." part. Thank you.

[@yishaithegift9953]

Its a great point you made by actually having less weight or tension in the hands by having a lower stem. Im 6'2" and have long arms. My stem is also slammed. Looking at my bike looks aggressive. But my arms and hands naturally fall in line with the bars. I ride 95% of the time in the drops. Just comfortable, and i love the way the wheels sound being so low, the bike feels and handles like a race bike! Thanks for the video. Great points all around.

[@fede1275]

Yes, I don't understand why by default a lower stem is always seen as uncomfortable. It really depends on your fit and riding stance.

[@yishaithegift9953]

@@fede1275 Yes that's true, but it's like you said, every adjustment takes your body some getting used to. It was uncomfortable for me at first, a few aches and pains. But I made some fit adjustments with my saddle, and now a slammed stem is not an issue at all.

[@xuchenglin6256]

I find the same. The aggressive position feels a lot more comfortable for me too..... I find that in a very unexpected way -- during a vacation we rent a 2014 Specialized Venge for my wife, which is size 49 (the smallest size available). However during the time we exchanged bikes, she's 5'1 and I'm 5'9, but I have a very short torso, and I'm much fitter than her so we can kind of exchange bikes. Luckily that original Venge comes with a very long seat post so I can actually set it to my normal saddle height. Under that setup it has like at least 15 CM of saddle to handlebar drop -- looks like directly coming from the world tour. I think well no way I can ride this, but let's just try what the pro feels like. To my surprise... that setup feels very very comfy. And all those tension on the back, just disappeared, the lower back feels ... relaxed... It comes to me as a complete SHOCK. I always thought (from those internet "tips") that such position will never be ridable for someone like me who doesn't posses very good flexibility. This experience completely changed how I perceive bike geometries. After that I did a lot of digging on the geometrygeeks, and find that 49 Venge is no shorter than my 55 endurance bike (GT grade 2017, if you ever curious) -- but just a whole lot lower. I can't find any "theory" to explain this. However I did find that that's exactly what Mark Carvendish rides during that time -- a 49 Specialized Venge (1st gen) with a super long stem. And that guy is just about the same height as me. Though chances are I can't ride this 49 fully slammed like him (the rental comes with a lot of spacers and a minus 6 degree stem of course), but that's still a lot lower than the trending opinions on the internet. Inspired by this experience (knowing I can ride in an aggressive position), I moved the seat all the way forward on my own bike (already got a inline seatpost before that), got a new minus 17 degree 110mm stem (actually considered a minus 30 degree one, but talked myself down to "try progressively"). Now the saddle to bar drop is about 13 cm to 14 cm depends on if you measure from bar or hoods. Surprisingly this change also unlocked the flatback on me for the first time -- I noticed that when looking at my own shadow at a surprise. I think once you have achieved certain degree of fitness, some of those tips just won't work for you. You have to either look at the pros or just try a lot of things by yourself.

[@fede1275]

Very interesting indeed. Sometimes it looks like everyone is repeating the same advice without understanding the different scenarios.

[@bludog4657]

Just noticed…5.5K followers! Congrats friend, blessings to you and your family

[@fede1275]

Thank you! You too!

[@davidnicholson6680]

I always enjoy your videos, thanks for the good content. I'm also 50 years old. I'm 178cm tall and on road bikes I like to run a slightly small frame for me (54) and a slightly longer 110-120 stem. I prefer about 100mm saddle to bar drop on road bikes. I find running more drop than that results in too steep a hip angle for me and I feel I can't put down power well. Less drop results in too much uncomfortable weight on my ass. On my aggressive crit bike, that drop means I need 15mm of spacers. On my endurance bike, it's slammed. For cross racing I prefer about 80mm of drop.

[@fede1275]

It seems a great setup!

[@unclespliff_productions]

agreed it's more comfortable as long as the frame is correct size

[@simonwarmer8777]

Yes you should. I’m stiff like a broom but zero spacers, fits me well ✅ still, personal.

[@About_Jack]

ottima spiegazione e consigli, anche io ho tratto giovamento nell'abbassare lo stem, saluto

[@fede1275]

Grazie mille!

[@martinbrimble5878]

Anothe nice video I just raised my stem a little bit in the last week, as I’d had it slammed previously, I as I’d been lead to believe this was optimal. I’d had a bike fitting during the summer and lowering saddle a little, resulting in opening up my hip angle and providing watt gains. I found I was able to rid further and fast for the same perceived effort.

[@paulmorrison30]

I really enjoy watching your videos ✊🏾 Thanks for sharing your experiences 🙏🏾. I will never slam my stem as I have 2 prolapsed discs in my lower back so I find a less aggressive posture more comfortable. Merry Christmas 🎄👊🏾

[@fede1275]

I understand Paul, I also had lower back problems in the past with track running and tennis. Strangely boxing and cycling are not bad for my back. Merry Christmas!

[@sibisubi6096]

Hey Federico, nice video. I would like as well to modify my Canyon Cockpit as you did - maybe I missed the information but where did you get/part number or name of this part you bought to reduce the height? Thanks D.

[@fede1275]

Thank you! This lower baseplate works with Canyon integrated cockpits and the part number is 123757. I don't think you can find it on their website, it's better to ask them on the chat to order it.

[@sibisubi6096]

@@fede1275 Thank you very kind. I will follow your advice and contact them directly. Have a great and success year 2023! BR Diego

[@GOlone9597]

I set up my cockpit like Remco, fortunately I didn't experience any discomfort whatsoever and I enjoy riding it 😂

[@fede1275]

Perfect situation!

[@1000750]

How does it feel on steep climbs? I'm thinking maybe better so you can be more over the front, I'm still at 10mm above slammed. Happy Holidays Aloha 🤙

[@fede1275]

You are right, it feels slightly better on climbs. When I noticed I was surprised as I didn't think of that aspect first.

[@cracked229]

I ride with plenty of guys w/ slammed stems who can't get into the drops and end up riding slower. Narrow and long is better than long and low from an aerodynamic point of view.

[@fede1275]

I guess it really depends on the body shape and where you are more comfortable. On my Ultimate slammed is better for me, maybe I have long arms

[@batmonkey]

Easy to check by measuring your "ape index" -- your wingspan minus your height.

[@jurezupan5324]

Hi Federico, from your driveby video I measured quickly your back angle :) On hoods, you have ca 44° back angle (acc. to ground) and in drops 34°, which is quite comfortable angle, far from profesional torture. So I think it's all about torso-to-legs ratio - I assume, you have very high torso-to-legs ratio, which requires slammed stem, otherwise you would be too upright (you are lucky from bike fitting perspective!). Eg. I have long legs (sounds better then short torso :D), so I strugle with low (and long) handlebar/stem and agressive bike geometries. One bike fitter said, that you should be able to see the trees above, not only the road in front of you - for me, this is at 42° back angle on hoods and I need all (27.5 mm!) spacers below my stem to achieve actually same position as you :/ Interestingly, the problem in too low position (

[@fede1275]

Great points and very well explained! I was going very slow on that drive by clips and in reality when I push harder I bend the arms more and the back angle changes. I do agree I have a long torso and arms and the slammed position works for me. I should have also mentioned different body types requiring different set ups. The neck angle is also something I work on all the time, on the bike and at the gym as well. Thank you!

[@jurezupan5324]

@@fede1275 Of course, bent elbows are most aerodynamic, I also go down for speedy segments pretending I'm van Aert :D This winter I'm also trying to work on my neck/back/posture. I'm sitting too much in front of PC :( Do you have any suggestions which exercises are best for improving neck muscles or posture to reduce neck pain on bike? If you haven't done this already (I remember you mentioned once some neck injury), could this be in your next videos? I like to hear different opinions, there are a lot of videos on YT, but I'm not sure what works best. So I see 3 segments: improving neck muscles/posture (e.g. in non-riding season) and stretching before and after the ride, this would be very helpful.

[@fede1275]

@@jurezupan5324 yes, I once injured myself while putting on a kickboxing headguard 😫. I am not that comfortable on giving neck advice, there is a risk of causing more damage than good with the wrong movement or massage. I try to avoid any posture where I raise my head, so I position my monitors low so to look down. As post ride routine I gently press down to release some tension, but I do this very gently. I guess consistency in avoiding turning the head up is best.

[@jurezupan5324]

@@fede1275 I understand, thank you! Keep up with good content.

[@xuchenglin6256]

@@jurezupan5324 Interesting. Did your neck problem solved? I sit in front of a PC probably more than you do and I tend to have that "computer guy's neck". However I find that cycling in that aggressive position is the best way to "counter" that effect. After a ride, I always feel the neck "healed" (feel a lot of relaxed and free), though there's some sore of the muscle but that's those good kind of sore like you lift some weight in the gym -- the muscle get exercised -- you don't get a lot of exercise on that muscle so that's a good thing. I think the trick here is instead of trying to lift your head through the upper end of the neck, use your WHOLE NECK. Stretch forward/upward from the bottom end of the neck -- where your neck intersects the shoulder line. It should be a whole neck rearward/upward movement including some upper-upper back engagement instead of a relaxed neck but only the joining point of head and neck flipped up. (my English is limited that's the best I can describe). The end result is the same but the former is wrong in every sense. I don't think for such stuff you need dedicated "exercise" -- how long can you perform that exercise? If trying to exercise for that neck muscle on the bike for 3 hrs won't make it better, how could a 5 minute routine have better "exercise effect" ???

[@johnd1466]

The Steerer should be 10mm below & 5mm above the stem shaft. YT fans of this guy Read The Rules of the Velominiti, Remember you ain’t a Pro if you cycle on open roads wear mitts…

[@fede1275]

Rule 45 of Velominati to be precise 😄

[@tinniswood2577]

I took your advice and slammed my stem, now my family thinks I'm looking for something on the carpet!!

[@fede1275]

😂😂 never take my advice!

[@tinniswood2577]

@@fede1275 No worries, were having the carpets raised!! :-) Merry Christmas Fed and Mrs Fed.

[@fede1275]

@@tinniswood2577 😄 Merry Christmas to you!

[@TheKsaikumar]

I’m using ultimate cf sl with cp10 handle can I still go for this upgrade? If yes then will this same part work

[@fede1275]

The CP10 looks very similar, but I'm not sure that the base plate would match it. Try ask Canyon, but I believe they have run out of them.

[@TheKsaikumar]

@@fede1275 thanks for the advice, it’s very helpful I would definitely mail them asking for it.

[@govermentsoundsystemrootik8887]

Been slammed forever bro & for me i find it my natural riding position in or out of the drops...., at first yes slight lower back & shoulder ache but after a while where my body conditioned it self to that riding position everything became one 😁...., Excellent content as always bro keep your updates & progress coming ok..., 🙏🏾👊🏾👍🏾

[@fede1275]

Yes, you are right. The key is to be prepared for a little adjustment and conditioning on the body, like when trying a new gym excercise. As long as the technique is correct, the discomfort would go away.

[@govermentsoundsystemrootik8887]

@@fede1275 correct amundo 👍🏾...., from a early age from when i started out racing on road bikes & fix wheel track bikes & events from at the time Herne Hill Stadium was my absolute 100% go too training ground which was free & I will always be in debt to Mr Flood who taught us all the fundamental in ( cica 1978-1994 )cycling's 97before they re-vamped & mordenised the track to its modern day bidding to date the Herne Hill Velodrome...., fond memories as i have already stated from when i was 9,10,11,12,13 & by the time i was 14 yrs old i along with many of my friends who we still ride with today who do a group ride to either Windsor Castle or the epic Richmond Park run X-4 around the Park then stopping at the Roehampton gate bikers Lodge most weekends to re- charge or Middlesex Cologne Valley National Nature Park up in Denham 3/4 miles (not km ) out side of Uxbridge we good to go....

[@fede1275]

@@govermentsoundsystemrootik8887 wow, great wealth of experience!!

[@govermentsoundsystemrootik8887]

@@fede1275 well I do try if i must say so bro thank you 😎👊🏾👍🏾

[@upgrade222]

What's your front light??

[@fede1275]

It's an Exposure Trace MK2

[@lucarusso7915]

Bravissimo

[@fede1275]

Grazie mille!

[@nadsim154]

what stem size are you using?

[@fede1275]

On the Canyon Ultimate I use a 12cm stem, on my 56 Velobuild a 13cm

[@nadsim154]

@@fede1275 Your Canyon is a size Large?

[@fede1275]

@@nadsim154 yes, it's L. It came with a standard bar and stem, so I could try the stem lenght before I got the integrated bar

[@nadsim154]

@@fede1275 Okay thanks man !

[@gc641]

Doesn’t work if you have a short torso and t-Rex arms I found , 🤣

[@fede1275]

Not an easy combo to fit I guess!

[@gc641]

@@fede1275 tell me about it, 80mm stem might be the answer or xs bike if it exist

[@diegoeleazar9154]

You could with Trek Domane. Not the lighest bike though...

[@Junnys_Bicycle_Hoard]

If you cannot slam the stem then it is the wrong bike for you. Purchase a “past your prime” lower testosterone recreational frame set with a very large head tube. Then proceed to slam the stem on that 😉.

[@govermentsoundsystemrootik8887]

Ohh yeah just to add I'm 6ft 2 & I have my seat post extented to 230mm on a 56cm Merida Reacto 4000 disc frame set which I have customised by swapping out the 105 hydraulic disc groupset & installed the Ultegra version.., swapped the stock rim's & got myself a hand built 40mm deep carbon wheel set compliments of Owen Wheels out of Nunhead, South East London Rat Race Bikes..,im not a professional bike rider but more of a exceptional experienced bike rider who been riding since 4yrs old on a 3 wheel bugie trike 😂🤣..., fast forward to the here & now 52 yrs later & can someone tell me why i feel like I'm 21 again 😂🤣😂

[@fede1275]

That's the key 😁😁