What's your view? Is it time to man up and get low and slam that stem? I like the stealth look, nice and low. In my opinion, bikes look better with a short head tube. I would not buy a Cervelo R5ca 56cm with that great long head tube just destroying the look of the bike. It does seem to be the way bike manufacturers are going. I would rather see more spacers being used than ugly big head tubes. The Trek Domaine is another bike where only the pro's get the short head tube. There are still some of us who can bend down. It seems the bike manufacturers bend (pun intended) to the will of the masses and soon a short head tube will be no more.

I ride a long head tube Parlee Z5 XL and still have a 9cm saddle to handlebar drop, so for my fit a longer head tube is a must.
On my other bike a few spacers and a flipped stem are needed to get the same fit, and a flipped stem just looks WRONG

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Ozrider - Western Australia
Parlee Z5 XL 2011 (6055g/13.32lbs) Raleigh RC Ltd 2008 (7.6kg) Reynolds 653 Custom 1990 (9.8kg, now 8.8kg)
The accumulation of marginal gains is what makes the difference between winning and losing

Or is it time to go grow some legs?

Slam.

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Slam your stem.

Take a look at roadbikereview's Cervelo-forum, most people still have tall spacer towers and mtb stems even with the new taller head tube geometry....

Sad saddles for prostate enlargement and spacer towers for beer bellies... Those are the customers who buy the most expensive frames, thus the geometry.

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Slammed. Campy. Tubulars.

Buy a frame that you are comfortable riding. Whatever the looks.

If it makes you ride more and more often, it accomplishes the task.

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Cervelo R3, Campagnolo Chorus/Record mix... pastatrails.blogspot.com
And you can call me Macktastik Honey Pete Kicks, thank you.

Long head tubes with slammed stems (or with minimal spacers) are better than short head tubes with spacer towers, IMO. Not to mention stiffer. So I think Cervelo (and others that are going with longer head tubes) are doing it right. If you need to go lower, get a -17 degree stem and a classic deep drop handlebar. If you need to go even lower than that, go with one size smaller. Either way, problem solved.

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My Bikes

My Photoblog

Well said and logical. Don't why this argument surfaces when it's a simple answer.

KB said "Well said and logical. Don't why this argument surfaces when it's a simple answer"
Its not an argument . It's about the asthetic of bikes and the way they are changing into sportive bikes and the fact that a true racing bike will end up being exclusive and more costly. I do not want to have a big head tube and -17 stem. I fear this is what will happen.

Nothing to add here

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A light bike does replace good fitness.

Good thing there are multiple manufacturers to choose from.

Not everybody has the same flexibility as you. Like you said...its about the aesthetics of the bike. I'd rather have a slightly taller headtube than run 40mm of spacers. You can also size down if you want a shorter headtube.

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Well, if you want to go low, Cipo's bikes are for you.
The largest size has a head tube of 163mm!!! (with 590mm top tube)

http://www.mcipollini.com/en/biciclette ... #geometrie

There are still bikes out there with the classic italian geometry.
I use cannondale evo (after the supersix hm) in the size 58 and it has a properly low headtube at 175mm. I use 5mm headset + one 5mm spacer below the 6deg stem.
Looking at the specialized.. tarmac, venge..or cervelo.. the smaller frames look ok somehow, but the L and XL.. no comment.
Trek offers the top bikes in 3 geometries, H1,2,3 with the difference in headtube lenght. H1 is the pro level with 160mm on 58 frame..

But.. yes.. one thing is racing geometry and another thing is fitness geometry. The problem is that the fitness users are the 99% of the business.

My tarmac sl3 is fairly tall in front so I'm running a -17 degree 110mm stem on 10mm of spacers. I could go to a 6 degree and slam it but I want to avoid that as it doesn't help at sale time. It is true that most frames are now tall in front but that's the market.

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

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N+1 It Never Stops

Love Ridley's geometry. Works well for me. Long head tube allows me to drop down a size and run a 120mm, -10% stem. Slammed. Like a boss.

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2013 Wilier Cento1 SR || 2009 Ridley Crossbow || 2011 Yeti AS-R 5 Carbon