Why Do Professional Cyclists Slam Their Stems?

- The pros are renowned for their aggressive
slammed riding positions,
but of late there's been an increasing trend
towards the extreme.
(calm music)
Now, when you consider that my bike is pretty slammed,
and by that I mean there's a big differential
between bar and saddle height,
the same as when I was racing,
and you compare it to the extremely aggressive position
of Johann van Zyl, you'll know what I mean.
Now, we've talked to a few riders
about they seem to be taking things,
position-wise, to the extreme.
Look, we've had a little cheeky look at your bike,
and straight away, that to me,
is a relatively extreme position.
We know a lot of the riders now like their slammed stem,
like to get nice and low at the front,
but there's a real trend now
for saddles being tipped down
whereas before everybody was using a spirit level.
So, explain the benefits of that position
and why you ride in that position.
- Well, I don't know.
Well, I think before I had pretty level-up saddle
but now, with this model,
I put it a little bit more down,
it's more comfortable when I reach on the drops,
so, yeah, it just feels okay.
- Is it a position that's more like riding
on a TT bike do you think, as well?
'Cause it does look a little bit like that.
- I don't think so because I'm not,
I don't like to be on a TT bike,
so it's definitely not that.
- So, how long have you been riding in this position?
- Since the beginning of the year
when I got the saddle, so, yeah.
- Johann, there's a definite trend, isn't there
for riders to slam their stems in the pro peloton,
but what we're seeing as well now,
is for the seat position to be really forward,
and quite often, tipped downwards.
Could you just explain this quite extreme position
that you've got here?
- Yeah, sure, so what I like about this is,
I lowered my stem by quite a bit.
It's, I think, up to two centimeters lower
to what I had before.
So, obviously with your whole body being shifted forward,
it helps if the seat is also a bit like that,
so then your whole pelvis can also just forward.
So, I find it more comfortable,
don't slide around and I can kind of lock myself
into that aero position.
- So, how long have you been riding
in this particular position?
- After the season finished last year,
at 2016, then I thought that I would try something new
'cause, you know, like, every year
you want something better, you want to be lower,
more aero, faster, so,
I slammed on the down-angle stem
and I liked it, so I'm keeping it for now.
- So, Kenny, we're seeing this real trend in the peloton
towards, you know, very, very slammed positions.
So, very low in the front,
but increasingly, kind of extreme saddle tilting.
But that's not just a trend,
that's not just fashion, is it?
- No, they changed the rules.
Before it was like a three-degree angle
that you could have on your saddle
and now they changed it to nine,
so that's a remarkable change,
and it's, yeah, more visible now,
because three degrees you barely see.
- So, what kind of advantage does this give the riders?
'Cause looking at all the bikes in Dimension Data,
most riders have adopted this new, sort of,
slanted, more aero position.
- Yeah, moving it to the front
and lowering down the tip,
like, it's also like the saddle pressure
is much lower then.
So, and also give you a little bit more comfort
and to have, like, an extra push point on the saddle.
- Just hunting around another
relatively extreme position we've got here,
is Jon Dibben of Team Sky, his Pinarello F10.
As you can see, saddle pointing
in a rather saddlery position,
slammed forward on the seat post.
And look at that for a negative inverted stem.
I say that's a 14 centimeter stem.
That is an extremely low position for Jon Dibben.
Another pretty slammed position, seat-wise,
look at Robert Gesink's position there.
Slammed forward on the rails
and pointing in a rather saddlery position as well.
So, there we have it.
This isn't just a passing fashion trend,
it's the relaxation of the rules by the UCI
that is allowing riders to get into
a more comfortable and aero position on the bike.
That begs the question,
will we see further relaxation of the rules
in the future, what will bikes look like?
Anyway, we'd love to hear what you've got to say
in the comments section down below.
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Why Do Professional Cyclists Slam Their Stems?

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