on 5/6/11 3:58 AM, MichaelH at mhech...@gmail.com wrote: > My son, who is 39 years old and a very muscular 170 lbs claims that > he experiences stem flex while climbing with a traditional quill > stem. I am always disinclined to challenge people's subjective > experience but I have never experienced this and suspect it is in his > imagination. > > Has anyone here felt their stem flex and has anyone ever broken a > stem?
I've definitely felt (and feel) front end flex, but am never quite sure how to parcel it out to the various bits, and the varied conditions under which I apply pressure to the pedals. My unsubstatiated belief is that once you start focusing on it as something unwanted, you find flex in a lot of places. Bars flex a bunch, of course, and I've always felt that was where most of the movement came from. If I'm really honking on the bars, I'm probably out of the saddle, and there are extensive variables in perception and power when that occurs. Wheels flex, bb's flex, frame flex... if there is actually stem flex, I always suspected it's fairly far down the chain. (Now, I've also felt a notchy movement of a quill stem when it was in a bulged steerer, but that's really a different animal.) Of course, much of the discussion regarding flex is based on the assumption that it is a bad thing, and that's something I no longer take on faith. At one point in the last century, Ibis Ti Stems were the peak of bling. They were beautifully made quill stems, and I know a few people who had them. Flex was not on their list of descriptors. I have Ti bars on my soft-nosed multi-geared mtb (which largely sits dormant...), and they are connected by fairly stiff threadless stem. Again variables of front suspension cloud the equation. But, when I stomp and pull to accellerate, there's a fair amount of give. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Your Photos are needed! - Send them here - http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines "I threw one leg over my battle-scarred all-terrain stump-jumper and rode several miles to work. I'd sprayed it with some cheap gold paint so it wouldn't look nice. Locked my bike to a radiator, because you never knew, and went in." -- Neal Stephenson, "Zodiac" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
