A Question of Fashion or Function.

I'm not normally bothered about fashion – I wear my bum bag with pride, and usually prefer function before form in any situation. But a new stem for the Bantu is giving me a severe case of the ditherings.

Despite being the biggest frame size Voodoo offer for this model, the Bantu has always felt a little cramped, and the bars a little low. I don't like to change things immediately unless they are obviously way out of whack, so I carried on riding with it to see how I got on over time. Well, just recently, I've been getting a sore neck on the Voodoo, so that was definitely it, no more ruminating just get it dealt with. So I had me some Wiggle time (my current fave retailer) and spotted a 110mm stem – 10mm longer than the stock Bantu item, and with a positively pornographic 35 degree rise. So a couple of days later, it duly arrived, along with a bottle of Wiggle's own brand wet chain lube and the usual, and much welcomed, little bags of Haribo.

Having fitted the new stem, I stood back to admire my work and...erm... yes. It looks very dorky, to put it mildly. Current fashion dictates bars as wide as a rake handle is long and a stem so short that it barely warrants the name. I don't know why they don't just mount a bar clamp right on top of the steerer tube and be done with it. I do like the short stem wide bars look it must be said, but function should come before form... or so I keep telling myself these last few days.

Yesterday provided the first opportunity to try out the new layout up the road, as there was a welcome, if short, gap in the wet and very windy weather.

Trevella Stream running fast, and noisily, after the recent heavy rain. There is something really relaxing and enjoyable about being surrounded by the noises of nature, even fast moving water roaring like a fighter jet on after burners.

The lanes were awash with running and static water, and deep leaf mulch and mud, so things were getting messy very quickly. There was however, a great sense of calm in the air after the howling and battering of the previous few days. Everywhere seemed still and quiet, running water apart that is, and with the temperature being unusually warm for November, it all made for some very enjoyable riding.

This stream is just a tiny trickle most of the year, but with a bit of rain it soon overwhelms the culvert carrying it beneath the road to make a temporary 'pop up ford' as it races across the tarmac.

There is saying that getting old is compulsory, but growing up is optional, and if you ever want evidence of the truth in that, just come and find me on the lanes after some hefty rain. I still get childish joy from bombing through standing water and getting the bike a bit squirrelly through the mud and gribble on the roads, so it wasn't long at all before I was splattered in water and grolly and my leaky boots had allowed my feet to become soaked. But it just felt great to be out in the fresh air, dicking about with bikes, puddles, and the cameras. 

This was a slowish pass for the camera through a proper ford.

Best go back and have another go then.

There we go!

Some cyclists appear to be very wary of Fords, preferring to use the usually available foot crossing instead. Maybe it's their choice of bike (not much rubber on the road with a road bike for instance) or maybe I'm going to run out of luck someday soon and come a right cropper, but I go bozzing through fords with an immature glee and enjoy every silly moment of it. I don't shout 'wheee....' as I go though, that would be a bit silly, but my advice to every cyclist when confronted with a ford or a big puddle is not to mince about fretting and avoiding it, but to shed their inhibitions and belt through with a big smile on their face instead. Put some fun back into the riding for heaven's sakes!

Country lane bimbling can be a real pleasure even when the roads are claggy.

So, all in all, I had a very enjoyable ride, and on returning home, I gave the bike a thorough wash and lube, and it is now sat behind me in the living room, looking peachy, and filling the house with the pleasant aroma of GT 85.

Flipping litter louts boil the blood though.

So that was all good, but back to that stem. The good news is it has transformed the feel and comfort of the bike. I don't ride hard on or off road, so weighting up the front wheel isn't important to me at all, comfort is though, and this new set up is a vast improvement, as I sit 'in' the bike more rather than 'on' it. I'm still leaning forward enough to take the weight off my back too, so I'm not swapping neck ache for back trouble. So it's a win all round then? Well... there are the looks... I keep telling myself function before form, but my word it does look flipping gawky. After much peering and staring, and turning away only to look back suddenly to see how first impressions erm... impress, I have decided (I think...) that the stem, goofy though it is, will have to stay, as pain free riding trumps looks every time, and I don't mind being seen on the chaotic old clutterbus Carrera, so why should I mind being seen with a naff looking stem? Yes, function before form, comfort before looks. Now if I keep telling myself that, I might just start to believe it... 

Woo that's a shocker... The Voodoo sporting its new, gormless, look.

Or I could just wear a Balaclava everywhere.