stem length

oscar-j

hi all,i have tried searching for the answers but couldn't find them so apologies if this is an old one!
does stem length affect the handling of the bike? my frame size is good but the stem is 130mm which is way too long for me and is quite a stretch.i was thinking of reducing this to 100mm but can you go even shorter,say 80?would this affect the performance of the bike in any way or is stem length purely to tweak the fit?
i realise i can adjust the saddle to help aswell
thankyou

antfly

It would make the steering more sensitive, possibly a bit twitchy. 130mm to 80 would be a very big jump.

TMR

The short answer is yes, it'll make the steering more accute, but that's it. You'd get used to it quickly.

Velonutter

As a very rough guide, make sure your seat is in the correct position, i.e. knee over the pedal at 90 degrees, extended stretch at 180 degrees with your heel on the pedal etc.

Then how I try to make sure is to get onto the bars in the main position that I ride and when I look down at my front axle it should be obscured by the handlebars. I also do another quick check which is to touch the very front of my saddle with the back of my elbow and with my hand fully stretched note where the tips of my fingers are, they should come half way up the stem

overgeared

it has a minor impact on steering, but so does where you hold the bars. look at flexibility on stem length as the way you adjust reach in a 4-5cm range given a frame that is more or less the right size. nothing else is worth worrying about.

bilsea159

I purchased a medium ribble sportive and had on it a 110 stem same as on all my other bikes, reach was too long. I fitted a 90 stem and can honestly say the bike is now very twitchy to the point of being unstable if I take one hand off the bars to reach for the drink it can be tricky, also the front end is very light and can be a handful