Designer invents stem and post with 30mm of adjustment
Swiss bike designer Andy Muff has developed a new length-adjustable stem and layback-adjustable seatpost under the name ISA (Integrated Size Adjustment).
He claims his patent-pending system will let you adjust the seat position and reach of any bicycle without having to change parts.
By flipping an insert in the seatpost head by 180 degrees you can move the saddle forwards or backwards by 25mm, in addition to the movement allowed by the seat's rails. This effectively means you have a layback and inline post in one.
A similar system in the stem enables you to move the handlebars 30mm backwards or forwards.
Mr Muff, a former elite racing cyclist and owner of bike company C2 Concept Cycle, will launch the products at next month's Eurobike show. He is in negotiation with possible licencees and manufacturing partners.
The obvious drawback with these products is that 30mm is quite a big change in reach; smaller increments would be more useful. However, the system could presumably be adapted to provide a 10mm or 20mm variation.
What do you think of Mr Muff's idea? Have your say in the comments box below.
User Comments
There are 19 comments on this post
Showing 1 - 19 of 19 comments
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Bigmiksears
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 10:55 am BST Flag as inappropriate
in a very childish fashion....i think he's got a funny name
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ExeterSimon
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 10:58 am BST Flag as inappropriate
I have to agree.....Muff. hehehehe.
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hoots
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:03 am BST Flag as inappropriate
Brilliant ideas. Stem looks like it might need some more refinement, but basic concept is very interesting. If the quality and robustness of the seatpost is up there with the likes of Thomson, I think it'll be s a winner. For habitual frame/bike/set-up changers like myself, it'd solve some problems (the post is exactly what I needed when trying to match the seat position on two bikes last night)
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jenine
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:10 am BST Flag as inappropriate
another solution to a problem that dosent exist..looks a bit like one of those nasty cnc things i had on my bike back in the 1990's..lol
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tywin1
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:16 am BST Flag as inappropriate
Novel idea, but is it just me or does the stem use 3mm bolts or something? They look like they'd strip out if you sneezed at them.
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careful
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:20 am BST Flag as inappropriate
Looks like a Meccano or Heath Robinson job. May be useful on hire bikes but I wouldn't be seen dead with the stem. The seatpost looks a little better but buying the right one in the first place makes more sense.
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honourablegeorge
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:25 am BST Flag as inappropriate
Designer Muff, eh?
I liek the sound of it.
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honourablegeorge
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:25 am BST Flag as inappropriate
Designer Muff, eh? I like the sound of that.
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kieronymous
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 11:29 am BST Flag as inappropriate
30mm of handlebar reach adjustment? Doesn't look like it. More like half the bar diameter, so 10-15mm, max...
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jrduquemin
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 3:06 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
Clever idea, though how much adjustment does one need?
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likewoah
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 3:07 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
For MTB an adjustable stem would be great for an All
mountain bike....but this looks a bit roadie weenie :(
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PissedOffCil
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 3:52 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
For people having one bike for road riding and time trials (like myself) you might want to adjust the seat post and stem to help with a better aero and more powerful position.
A no- for-everybody product and they need to make that stem cleaner, seriously...
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bigflangesmallsprocket
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 5:05 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
I can see the potential in these stems, and quite interested in the seatpost especially if they're going to do a carbon version, that would come in handy for Brooks saddle owners.
It would be a good development of this idea to have various shims instead of just the one, so you could dial in a perfect stem length. As long as it's not too heavy I could imagine some folks going for the quirky look of this stem.
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fat fignon fan
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 6:10 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
I like the look of the stem, perhaps a grub screw to hold the shim in place?
how about calling the stem "the mule" Muff-in the mule!
Maybe not
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jrduquemin
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 6:33 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
hehehe :-)
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shisaa
Posted Thu 6 Aug, 7:22 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
Isn't it basically the same principle as an eccentric bottom bracket? Fine for fanatical fettlers.
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Bigmiksears
Posted Fri 7 Aug, 5:39 am BST Flag as inappropriate
I believe with an eccentric BB you have a whole range of potential positions, as you can place the middle of the BB anywhere within the circle at the bottom - so that you can tension the chain. With this however, an im quite prepared to be told otherwise, you can only have the shim at the front or the back, giving you a position either 30mm away from you, or 30mm closer - there is no inbetween bit to place the handlebars.
If Mr Muff is looking for potential manufacturers, it brings a whole range of different marketing possibilities to the fore...
A Muff-ZIpp design,
Endura-Muff
Look-Muff
Specialized Muff
Orange Muff (for you mtb'ers out there)
ahhh - Innuendos :P
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nferrar
Posted Fri 7 Aug, 10:57 am BST Flag as inappropriate
I can't believe there's more than a tiny market for this. Saddles already have rails for fore-aft adjustment so as someone above said I can really only see someone doing occasional TT's being interested in the seatpost (and even then personally I'd just have a second post + saddle as it would be lighter and less prone to creaking, and probably no more expensive). I can't see why you'd want to adjust bars fore-aft once you've found a comfortable length, again this would be heavier and it's unlikely they'd have the same amount of rise models available to. The Look ergo stems are useful (used to have one on a TT bike) but that's more about overall positioning not just reach.
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supersonic
Posted Fri 7 Aug, 4:42 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
Looks like a heavy solution to an non existent problem.
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