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Hi guys,

Anyone know the degree angle of this stem? It's a "GIANT A3 aluminium ahead", it has a reach of 80mm, and a height of about 5cm (measured by placing a ruler in the middle of stack height, then a tape measure from ruler to middle of handlebar bole = that is the correct way to measure it right?).





I've never liked this stem, its ugly, and the angle looks ugly too. I've been thinking about getting a 'Thomson Elite X4 Stem (0' deg)', and buying a 30, 35, or 40mm riser handlebar, what you guys reckon? The current cockpit fits alright, so would like to maintain that.

Also does the reach of a stem change depending on its angle? So if I was to replace my current 80mm stem with a Thomson 80mm, would the latter's reach be shorter? What would I need to make that up a 90mm?

Lock-out:

I currently have this lock-out on my fork;

https://www.greyville.com/products/9090-fke035-03-sr-suntour-sf10-xcr-remote-lockout-top-cap-assembly?store_referer=true#.UecADW0ueSo

Anyone know if I can replace it with this lock-out, looks like the same size and mechanism;

https://www.greyville.com/products/6552#.Ueb__20ueSp

Tyres:

I was thinking about replacing my 2.1 tyres with 'Continental Mountain King II 2.2' from eBay, but tonight I'm off the opinion I'll get a bit more out of my current tyres.

Using a bit of Trigonometry Calculator (http://www.carbidedepot.com/formulas-trigright.asp) going by your measurement it says 3.5 degrees but to be honest it looks more than that (but to be honest you have to take into account the headangle of the frame as well). To be honest with you the reach will not be effected by that much if all you are changing is the angle but you will be putting a little bit more wait over the front of the bars (better for climbing). The bars will also make a big difference in feel depending on the length of them, you can shortern the stem (to quicken stering) but widen the bars (to improve control) but still keep the same body riding position. Best thing to do is try a friends stem to work out what you want or go to a decent bike shop and try their/their bikes.