Shorter stem?

Giraffoto

The standard set on my MTB is 100mm centre-centre, and I feel like I'm at a bit of a stretch on it. Nothing too drastic, it's just a tiny bit too far forwards for comfort. Should I try a shorter stem, or MTFU? 70mm would seem about right, I think.

Also, for ordinary cross-country use (no racing, not much jumping) would something as nice as a Hope stem just be me buying shiny things for the sake of it?

Anonymous

Try it and see.

Two reasons to shorten it basically. First is if you need to because the reach is too far. Second is if you're doing more downward pointing trails than up or flat. Helps you turn more easily going down and also helps you get your weight off the back for steep stuff. That's why stems get shorter as you move to AM and more so with DH bikes.

If you shorten the stem you may find it's more twitchy. A longer bar compensates and also is an aid at faster speeds down, though can be awkward at slow speeds, and on climbs.

Anyway 100mm is a classic XC length. If you're feeling the reach is stretched, definitely don't MTFU as it would appear the fit is not correct. Shortening to 70mm would be fine I would say.

Stevo_666

I went from a 100mm to a 70mm stem on my Anthem as it was a tad too long and it worked fine. Also changed the bars from the standard 620mm jobs to 660mm which helped make it a bit more stable.

maddog 2

70mm stem and 685mm+ bars. Much better control than an old school setup, although if your head angle is quite steep, say 69+ degrees, then you may find it a tad twitchy, so suck it and see. Stems are a cheap ebay buy so easy to experiment.

Giraffoto

Almost there - having shelled out£16 or so on a 70mm stem from Race Face, the position is a lot more comfortable than I'd expect from just 30mm of change. It could also do with going up a bit though - does anyone know if there's such a thing as a 70-80mm stem with about a 30 degree angle on it? (I could search, but asking here gets me an answer to whether it's any good as well as just existing)

davewalsh

Giraffoto wrote:

does anyone know if there's such a thing as a 70-80mm stem with about a 30 degree angle on it?

It isn't cheap but Hope do a 70mm stem with 25 degree rise, I have one on my Inbred. I seem to remember there being one on the classifieds a few days ago.

supersonic

Steeper stems change effective length mind - see FAQ.

cooldad

supersonic wrote:

Steeper stems change effective length mind - see FAQ.

Pythagoras rules

ilovedirt

Try some bars with a higher rise/wider as well?

Giraffoto

I like the look of the Hope stems, but the issues are

• 25 degrees won't raise it that much
• I'd feel a bit silly spending all that on a stem for a £375 bike

I have, however, found a gadget called the BBB steerer extension. This can be adjusted (with no tools, just thumbnails) from a seemingly pointless 5mm up to a more useful 85mm of extra height, and 5mm increments in between. I'll give this a go and report back

pseymour

I swapped my stem on my Giant Anthem from a 100mm to a 70mm. With the 70mm stem I couldn't climb nearly as well with it as it changed my posture on the bike. So I swapped it straight back to the 100mm. 70mm is great for downhill, but not so great for getting up there in the first place from my experience.

davewalsh

Giraffoto wrote:

I like the look of the Hope stems, but the issues are

• 25 degrees won't raise it that much

Have to disagree. assuming your current stem is 6 deg rise, Changing from a 6 deg to 25 deg will make your bars 19mm higher and reduce your reach by 14mm, will feel significantly different. Also, I seriously doubt the extender jobbie will be adjustable on the fly with no tools. Do you have a link for it ?
BTW, On-One do an 80mm 35 deg stem for £20 or an 80mm 25 deg for a tenner. Both of those will give you more rise and less reach than a 70mm 6 deg stem.