You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
after some thoughts, currently running a 50mm stem and considering reducing the length to make the steering a bit more responsive/active.
Thinking either 32mm or 40mm - will the 32mm be too much or 40mm too little?
Its on a 170mm travel bike.
Go 35mm to be on the safe side
Not a bad idea 😉
Cy@Cotic did a great podcast on this which might be worth a listen - they are also doing short stems!
I dropped from 50 to 35 on my larking around bike and never looked back.
Cy@Cotic did a great podcast on this which might be worth a listen – they are also doing short stems!
yeah, but you really need to add the bit you’ve cut out of the stem to the top tube.... 😉
I think this is a case of suck it and see (go Capatin flasHeart), get some cheep stems and have a go back to back out on a ride.
I found with an old trek 4 series, that came with a 105 mm stem when I put less than 60mm stems on the balance of the bike was gone. 70mm was fine as long as I weighted the front on loose surfaces. That same stem on my BFe275 is just too much for my back but the frame design copes with it and doesn't affect the bike.
As metalheart says, what was the tt designed for stem wise? I think you will find a tipping point if you'll excuse the pun, where the frame design won't work optimally and you won't enjoy the ride. You can probably find that out from the manufacturer.
Watched Cy's podcast. Switched from 45mm to 35mm on my Rocket (it's a small and I'm short so based on Cy's comments I wouldn't be compromising the geometry of the bike). Not sure whether it's placebo or genuine but getting the bars behind the axle does seem to make the bike feel more 'sure footed', especially in sweeping corners (which does match Cy's comments too).
I also moved the ssaddl forward a bit, so moving my CoG a bitbit mi also have had an effect?
Overall I've shortened the effective top tube by about 20mm. Haven't really been able to notice that - certainly doesn't feel cramped.
Caveat. Have only ridden the bike round the local wordw since making the changes. Tomorrow's day in The Peak might tell me more in way or another...
Depends on your body shape, it is not a universal law that a shorter stem will result in an improvement for everyone. If you're long in body for your height then you will need the length transferring from your ste to the reach, but if you have a shorter upper torso then you will probably get away with it and get the benefit of the shorter stem. Best thing to do is to just try it.
One thing I learned from my session with Jedi last year was the position of the brake levers helps and has an effect. One thing I was suffering from on my Transition Covert, which has quite a short reach, was the feeling that if I braked hard I my wrists would collapse and fold and I would get that momentary feeling that I was going over the bars. In my mind the fix for this was a bike with longer reach, but Jedi reckoned my wrist position was wrong and changed the angle of my levers which had an effect on my whole body position and it solved the problem straight away.
I've just got a new Cotic frame (non-Longshot) and am fitting a shorter 35mm stem (from a 50mm on the Covert). I'm sure it will be fine.
I really should proof read my posts better when posting from a phone...
35mm it is then. Thanks!