Quote Originally Posted by jusdooit View Post
Ok ladies I know someone out there has done this. I started riding last season and began having discomfort............ok pain in my upper arms and shoulders. I never occured to me it was the bike. After about a 2 month winter lay-off it started to get better. Now I'm back in the saddle doing about 15 miles a day, 5 days a week and the pain is back. Then it hit me that my stem length is too long. I've talked to a couple of LBS guys and they agree. Call me cheap but the labor prices for making a change seem high. So my question is how hard is it to change yourself? My bike is a farily old (15 yrs) Diamonback. I have the old style threaded quill. I'd like to put on an adaptor and install a threadless stem. How do you know what length you need without investing in a time consuming and expensive fitting at the LBS. I currently have a 90mm stem, I think a 65mm is about right.
Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it a mountain bike or road bike? You have to disconnect the one side, brakes, shifters from handlebar, i.e. release all the cables; 90 to 65 is really a big jump, but if you can find a 65, it is doable. You will change the way your bike feels as it steers too with a change from a 90 to a 65. It might be that your bike is really too big; but if this is what you have and this is what you can afford, then you have to do it. I do not think I would be able to change a stem if I had never seen it done so it would be hard to tell you how to do it online. You also can change the fit of your bike by not just going shorter, but getting a stem that has a different degree rise than the one you have; or even flip it if it that kind of stem (Some stems can be mounted differently so that the rise is either less or more). You might want to check into a little shorter length and a little higher rise. It just depends on what kind of problem you are having. If you have never done anything like this yourself, you probably need to find someone near you that has some experience to help you