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Having bought in to long, low slack geometry I have been playing around with different stems. Over the recent years I have in increments from 100mm to 50mm as my bikes got longer and the results have meant I kept the shorter version. Due to having a XL bike again with long top tube so went down to 35mm. For the first time I am really struggling with the change as it seems to make the bike harder to turn at first then goes all at once meaning i’m either over or under compensating.
I have tried to get used to it but reckon i’m off back up to 50mm. Anyone found the same and found some stems are just too short?
Sounds to me more like a fork offset /trail issue giving "flop" as the bars are turned. Was it a full bike or did you build it up? Are your forks the recommended offset?
I'm running 51mm offset forks on a 29er and it does flip flop, and now I've put a 35mm stem following a frame change and slightly wider handlebars, it is even more flippy and floppy. The steering is very light and responsive though.
If I were to change forks I'd go for a shorter offset, but keeping the stem for now.
In terms of steering behaviour, it depends on the head angle and bar width (as well as fork offset). But I’ve found 750mm bars and 65.5deg (static) head angle on a hardtail feels too nervous with a 35mm stem but good with 50mm.
I wouldn't describe it as flip flop really, more like it feels like nothings happening so you give it a bit more which ends up being too much. Could be a offset issue as the forks have 51mm. I'd decided the issue was taking the stem shorter than the offset but am certainly no expert.
The bike is a 29" full suss btw, Orange Segment.
68 deg head angle so it’s not all that slack. How wide are your bars?
I think the stem vs offset theory makes no sense because the effective stem length with any bars is significantly less. It’s the position of your hands vs the steerer that matters, not the stem length, and all bars have backsweep.
Yep, decided 40 was too short on my ibis mono hd3. Lovely with a 50mm
I wouldn’t describe it as flip flop really, more like it feels like nothings happening so you give it a bit more which ends up being too much.
Exactly, not "flip-flop" just "flop" with no flip. Wider bars reduce the feeling.
Totally depends on rider and bike tbh, and not always in obvious ways- my trailfox and remedy were fairly similar shapes and had the same bars but the trailfox could go down to 35 and work great, the remedy wants 50mm ideally but really gets orrible below 40. Stems aren't expensive, all you can do is try it then keep what you like.
800mm bars so nice and wide. Reckon Northwind has it, 35mm just doesn’t suit it. Bet it would my ht but as it’s a large going shorter than 50mm will make it too small. It is on the limit as it is.