Adjustable stems are not new, but they usually involve changing the angle of the stem, not the reach. There have been a few adjustable reach stems in the past, but Aero Design Swiss is the first to offer a stem with a significant amount of adjustment while taking aerodynamics into consideration. Read on to learn more about their Kickstarter campaign that launched earlier today and how you can “Get Fit to Fly” with their new stem.
It’s not the first foray into the cycling world for the team behind Aero Design Swiss. In 2002, Morgan Nicol founded Oval Concepts and grew the component brand to the point that it caught the eye of Advanced Sports, Inc (Fuji, Kestral, Breezer, etc.) in 2009. After selling the brand, he and his wife later joined Challenge Tires to work in product development. Nicol also spent time with 3M, which has helped benefit the project as you will see later on.
The idea is to provide one stem that covers a wide range of adjustability. It’s aimed at individual cyclists, along with bike fitters and teams. There are a few different ways to look at it.
Example 1, a new cyclist who is getting serious about cycling or triathlons. As the cyclist progresses, their body will change, and so will their fit. Instead of having to swap stems as they progress, they can adjust their reach and height measurements to meet their needs. You can also adjust your position to help manage an injury or other limitations.
Example 2, a cyclist who uses one bike for multiple purposes. Not all cyclists have a road bike and TT bike. Some, like myself, have to use their road bikes and add aero bars to their drops. With the Aero Design Swiss stem, I could adjust my bar position as needed to get the fit I want for TT’s, crits, or adventure/endurance racing using one stem.
Example 3, a bike fitter. Some bike fitters have fancy contraptions they use for fitting, while others prefer to fit you on your bike. With the Aero Design Swiss stem, a fitter can quickly adjust reach without having to swap the actual stem. Instead of having to stock multiple stem lengths, they can stock one stem to cover 11 different lengths.
The Aero Design Swiss stem features a clam shell design that uses spacers to position the handlebars along the reach of the stem. The stem allows adjustment from 50mm to 150mm in 10mm increments and 40mm to 100mm in height with specially shaped spacers. The shell itself is made from carbon fiber, while the spacers are a 3M Glass Bubble material. At 255mm long with a 40mm stack height, the stem is a claimed 149g, which is surprisingly light for a stem this size.
The stem has a flat, rectangular profile with modular front cone design to provide an aerodynamic profile or room to mount your computer. At -17 degrees, the stem should sit flat when paired with a 73 degree head tube. It works with a 1 1/8″ steerer tube and common 31.8mm handlebars.
If all goes well with the Kickstarter campaign, they are hoping to offer additional items like an aero nose piece with a built in halogen light and side marker lights, a “UCI inspired” rubberized nose to provide a safer experience in the event of a crash while group riding, a mount for various mobile phones, and mounts for aero bar extensions and arm rests. The brand also has other projects in the works, including aero handlebars and frame sets geared at TT, road, and adventure riding, all with an aerodynamic focus.
You can support the project with a donation of as low as about $1.03 (1 Swiss Frank). 25CHF gets you a Aero Design Swiss fender. 75CHF adds a measuring tape keychain to the fender, which is useful in helping to measure your bike fit. 150CHF is your first chance to get the stem, and is limited to 100 backers. 200CHF gets you the stem, fender, and tape measure, and is limited to 100 backers. Finally, 1,000CHF is good for the stem, all of the add-ons, the fender, the keychain, and early access to future projects. Estimated delivery time is approximately March of 2018.
Click through to their Kickstarter campaign where you can learn more and help fund the project.
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
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