Anti back-pain-stem recommendation please!

[FluffyChicken]

Also try moving the seat further forward (at the right height) and also different tilts of the seat.
This eases my back pain more than bars do, but then it also seems a better position for me. It's similar to what I did BiTD.

But try things out, sus forks is another option, brings the front end up better than anything and reduces jarring through the body.


People are 'experts' because this is retrobike and pretty much everyone here has back pain ;-)

 

[Frankenorange]

No spine, no pain.

 

[Imlach]

and a squirt of the never ending Lynx Africa supply, works every time.

Nice one, for that classic locker room smell. Feels like you're riding one of the boys.

Oh...that sounds...nevermind!

 

[CassidyAce]

I'd recommend slouching in an armchair for a while and reading Phil Burt's Bike Fit 2nd Ed. After that, consider stem options.

 

[DrDaveTampa]

Be advised, as you make these changes it'll affect the weight distribution on the bike -- higher and shorter the stem the more to the rear your center of gravity will be. To me, it feels like I start to lose "bite" in the turns and want to wheelie on uphills. As you mess around with it you'll see there's a "sweet spot" where you can easily shift your body weight around to weight or unweight the front end as you need to. Depends on how you're built but I agree with others, you may want to at least consider a straight seat post and figure on fiddling with your fore-and-aft even then. This calculator might save ya some money, fun to play with anyway

For street or gravel, I don't worry as much about weight distribution, I'm going more for comfort. I *really* dig north road bars for that. Those things need a long stem anyway, should be able to keep that stem of yours, which is fabulous. Plug and play.

For singletrack, I feel MX bars put me in a better position -- better balanced, more athletic... MX "look-alikes" like the Surly Sunrise or VO Klunker are popular with kids here in the US. To me, those may be a little too tall, too wide, kind of expensive, and more than a little heavy (that's a lot of steel tubing). I tend to prefer actual motorcycle handlebars; eg 7/8" Renthals -- there's a million of em out there in dozens of variants so you can kinda dial in your cockpit without spending a ton of money. I personally feel like they handle best, and feel most solid with a BMX stem although 25.4-22 and 31.8-22 shims are easy to come by if you dare

If you really want to go all retro-fab, find ya some vintage Magura's and mount em up to a "7" style road stem. Not quite period correct but a nod to how they used to do it in Marin County; I'm sure Joe Murray ran the Repack many a time with some old Magura's shimmed into a Cinelli road stem. A combination that was so bad, it prompted Tom Ritchey to design the bullmoose bar ... which would also be a cool solution. Nitto Fairweather bars could be dialed in with the right length stem converter. Interesting articles here and here

 

[FluffyChicken]

Or if you happen to be at York Rally the end of June, try the ICE and similar bikes.
All pain goes away and damn they are fast and easy to use. I tried one last year, boom I want one (but cannot afford).

I tried the auto shifting ebike version too (testing for my son), I'm pretty sure he needs one, yes he does! He better get saving and buy one, I can then look after it for him ;-)
Lovely thing to pedal.

 

[Imlach]

Poor OP just wanted recommendations for a taller stem, and thought he'd found just place, little did he know he was in the eye of the storm.

 

[Imlach]

Anyway OP, get back to us once you've finished the compendium of appropriate literature and replaced every other component than the stem.

 

[FluffyChicken]

What are you suppose to do when someone gives a reasonable answer right away and @Stanflashm4n decides on the next page (though if not bought yet, look for the adjustable angle version, you can tweak as you need on your Scotland ride.)

But do look at seat position, that frame looks large (seat is quite low) so a long stretch. Hence reducing reach, but the seat forward on the rails helps there too and the angle to the pedals if stretched out.
But no idea how tall or proportioned you are.

---

Anyway, on to the next important topic.
What's the closest orange spray to get the new stem colour matched.?

 

[Stanflashm4n]

Anyway OP, get back to us once you've finished the compendium of appropriate literature and replaced every other component than the stem.

Haha I knew this would get a good response!

I have one of these available for the price of postage if you wanted a low risk trial?

Very kind offer, Is this a quill stem though?

What are you suppose to do when someone gives a reasonable answer right away and @Stanflashm4n decides on the next page (though if not bought yet, look for the adjustable angle version, you can tweak as you need on your Scotland ride.)

But do look at seat position, that frame looks large (seat is quite low) so a long stretch. Hence reducing reach, but the seat forward on the rails helps there too and the angle to the pedals if stretched out.
But no idea how tall or proportioned you are.

---

Anyway, on to the next important topic.
What's the closest orange spray to get the new stem colour matched.?

I’m going to get a new straight seat post too I think. And a saddle actually , not sure I like that one , what do people like for this kind of riding? (I know saddles are all personal preference but would be interested in people’s favourites )
Another question is : apparently I’m going to want some ‘panniers’ … which I assume is French for bike bag or something. Hopefully I can put a rack on the old Marin - anything I should consider ?
I suppose I should search for ‘touring’ on here and have a read. As you can probably tell this is new territory for me