Riser Stem?

[nscrbug]

That's exactly why my bike shop fitted me with a very short riser stem. And it's definitely made a difference.

x2...I have a short stem (80mm) with a fairly significant rise (17 degrees) on my bike, and I haven't noticed any handling issues. I too, have suffered from neck, shoulder, and hand/wrist pain...hence the shorter stem. I can't say with total certainty that it has helped a great deal (my frame is still too large), but it's better than it was before. I'm in the process of finding a new bike...one that fits me better...but until I find one, my too-large Trek will have to do for the time being, since I am trying to sell my Cervelo (which did fit me well, but was too aggressive geometry for me) and would like to keep it clean and ready to sell at a moments' notice.

[Catrin]

Good point. I went back to the pictures Catrin originally posted of the bike to get the bigger picture. Oakleaf is right that the stem is awfully short. Your bars are also high relative to your saddle. Was that a conscious decision on your part?

If you'd let me, I wouldn't mind riding the bike myself for a few minutes to get a feel for it.

IndySteel - you would be quite welcome to ride it for a few minutes to get a feel for it. Indeed I would like someone to who has much more experience than I do.

As far as the stem being so short - that is what came with the Complete build from Surly. The bar height came from the store, they applied the measurements from my 7.6 fitting to this bike. I am not going to change the bar height for now, but I will lower my saddle a scooch or two and if that helps for now.

Oakleaf - thank you for the explanation of stem and twitchiness. I am not very good at math I am afraid, but I got the idea. It doesn't SEEM that twitchy until I start moving around on the bike - though it is harder to hold a line with this bike than my Trek. Of course, I have 160 miles on my Trek, and 25 trainer miles and 20 riding miles on the LHT...

I am going to go ahead and have the shifters moved to the top of the bars...the more I think about it - the wiser an idea that seems. Same shifters, just on top of the bars rather than the ends.