- Slammed stems look cool.
There is simply no escaping it.
Whilst we might not all be able to ride comfortably
with our stems slammed,
I'm sure many of us would like to be able to.
After all, it gives you that pro look, doesn't it?
- It does, it's a statement of intent that says,
"I'm a serious cyclist.
"One that's experienced and that's been riding long enough
"to develop the requisite core strength, flexibility,
"to be able to ride in an aerodynamic, aggressive,
and faster position."
- So, in this video, we're give you some tips and tricks
to help you get into a more aggressive riding position,
and check out a new modern saddle tech,
courtesy of our friends at Fizik,
that allows you to do so with more comfort.
- [Ollie] Yes, a slammed stem is not for everyone
In fact, for most people, in all likelihood.
But if your concerned with speed,
it's probably the optimal position.
However, to actually go faster
requires a bit of extra knowledge.
(metallic stamping sound)
(woosh)
(bass heavy dance music)
- Right, so just in case you're confused
about what we're going on about when we say,
"slamming your stem"
it's the process of removing the spaces beneath your stem
and then pushing the stem into its lowest position
that it can fit onto on the bike.
Now this is something that you often see
on pro riders' bikes and that's because
pros like to get as low at the front end as possible.
This can have an aerodynamic advantage,
and it can also lower your center of gravity,
which can help cornering, and it also looks cool.
- It does.
Now irrespective of whether you want to
slam your stem completely
or just lower it a little, doing so does have
the potential to make you faster for free.
Check that out Ollie,
minus 20 degrees of rise
at 120 millimeter length, slammed.
- Yeah mine's, yours is longer than mine.
Mine's just 110 millimeters long and it's not quite slammed.
I've lowered it compared to what I normally do.
I'm going to try to lower today.
But I still have a few spaces in there.
- You know what I've heard on the internet.
You can get completely flat top caps
that are just three millimeter thickness
if you want to go the full hog and slam it properly.
(dance music)
Nothing will do more for your ability to to maintain
areo position than training in that position
and you don't have to start out by
training too quickly either.
We recommend a lower intensity
and shorter effort to get going.
Think of blocks of around five minutes.
This will help all your muscles adapt
to getting into that home position.
(dance music)
- [Ollie] Off-the-bike flexibility exercises can help too,
such as stretching, and yoga.
And remember, it may be a question of strengthening muscles
rather than trying to increase their range of movement.
(dance music)
- Wind tunnel testing has shown
that for the majority of riders,
having your hands on the hoods, and not the drops,
will present lower frontal area from your forearms.
So aim to get these parallel to the ground
and keep your shoulders hunched.
(dance music)
- All right Ollie?
- Yeah, that's all well and good Chris.
I mean, I'm doing everything you've said
but I'm finding it a bit uncomfortable to be honest mate.
I'm a bit concerned about the family jewels.
- Ooh, dear.
Well, Ollie, I'm glad you mentioned this.
Because it is indeed a quite common complaint.
Riding in a more aggressive aero position
slammed at the front
does indeed place a little more pressure onto the gooch.
Or to the more medically minded amongst you, the perineum.
Lucky though, there is a solution,
and one that's often prescribed by bike fitters worldwide.
And that's the relatively recent introduction
of the short, snubbed nosed saddle.
These shorter saddles enable you to get into
a much more comfortable position
while slammed on the front of your bike.
They're more stable in the middle
and they have a shorter nose
which essentially removes that pressure point.
- [Ollie] The channel in the middle
that takes care of that pressure relief
can be found on all sorts of different types of saddle.
The short nose also does another very important job.
It allows you to move the saddle forwards
while still staying within those pesky UCI rules
that stipulate that the nose of the saddle needs to be
at least five centimeters behind the bottom bracket.
That puts the bit of the saddle you sit on further forwards.
I mean, why would you want that?
Well, it's all to do with the hip angle.
The theory is that sitting on a short nosed saddle
allows you to rotate your pelvis further forwards.
Which is crucial for maintaining an open hip angle
which allows you to better recruit
the most powerful muscle groups,
and also recruit them in the most effective range of motion.
Basically, as you lean further forward,
you need to shift your bum further forward
in order to maintain a powerful pedaling position.
- Whilst this is almost certainly possible
on a standard saddle, such as my Arione,
it's almost guaranteed to be more comfortable
on a saddle designed specifically with that purpose in mind.
Not rotating your pelvis
will result in a more closed hip angle,
it'll be harder to recruit your glutes,
but it can also put more pressure on your lumbar spine.
(chill dance music)
Lots of brands do now have a short-nosed saddle
in their range,
but today we've got the Fizik Vento Argo
which I have in my hands and the Tempo Argo.
As you can see the Argo is noticeably shorter
than the saddles Ollie and I usually use on our bikes,
the Fizik Arione.
The Vento is tailored more towards races
with a dropped nose, a wide pressure relief channel,
and low sprung foam density.
- Just a quick note and tip for you.
If you're thinking trying a short nosed saddle
but you're normally using, well, a normal length saddle,
then a good way to fit it to your bike
is to actually measure it from the bars
to the back of your existing saddle
and replicate that measurement with the short nosed one.
Then begin to move forward.
(chill dance music)
- Now whilst I do find the look of a slammed stem appealing,
and I'm sure many of you at home do as well,
we are by no means suggesting you do this at home
unless you are 100% confident in what you are doing.
If you are going to slam your stem,
test it out first before your commit
to cutting the steerer tube
because that is something that you cannot undo.
(chill dance music)
- Not everyone is bothered about
being more aerodynamic on the bike,
but if you are, then getting lower
and having a more aggressive position at the front
is one of the best things that you can do to get faster.
And you don't have to go fully slammed like Chris does.
You can lose just one centimeter,
go one centimeter lower,
or get better and more used to riding in the drops.
Doing both of those things takes a bit of time to adapt to,
but they're likely to give you wattage savings that are,
well, roughly equal to a really expensive set
of deep section wheels.
Both are worthwhile doing and, well,
a short-nosed saddle can help.
- I think that's a very good point Ollie, advice.
Also worth pointing out
we are physically all very different.
And it could well be that you try slamming your stem
and for whatever reason, you don't get on with it,
discomfort or actual pain.
If that's the case,
then you'd be better of putting your bars
back up to where they were.
You'll be more powerful and likely, therefore, faster.
- Yeah, now I hope that you've found this video
informative and useful, and if you have,
then please give it a thumbs up
and if you'd like to support the channel,
then you can do so by clicking subscribe down there
and also the bell icon too,
and let us know in the comments
how you've got on experimenting with lower positions
and potentially slamming your stem.
- And if you'd like to see a video
on adjusting your bike stem or headset,
click just down there.
- That's going to be useful, I like that, topical too.
- Huh?