Stem advice

jon208

I'm finding the reach to the hoods a bit long on my new bike, the fit is otherwise fine and I felt a bit too hunched up on the next size down so I think the frame is the right size - the bike's a 61cm Bianchi Via Nirone, I'm 6'1" but with long legs and long arms. Top tube length on the 61cm frame is 58.5cm yet it's only 1cm less on the 59cm frame.

I'm going to give it a week or two to get used to the new bike but if things still aren't feeling right then I'll bring the bars a bit closer with a shorter stem, it's a 120mm stem at the moment and I'd probably swap for a 100mm (same stem, just a shorter version). My question is will this produce any noticable adverse effect on the handling of the bike? I've never had to swap stems on a bike before and don't want to mess things up.

Thanks

Jon

maddog 2

no.

any stem from 90mm to 120mm will be fine. Ebay has loads of cheap ones you can play around with.

tweak away 8)

redddraggon

I use a 90mm stem on all my bikes - handling is fine.

cannonfodder

does depend upon how much weight you are putting over the front wheel/how high the front end is.

If the stem is too short or the bars are too high then the steering may be too light going into corners