Shorten stem by 20mm?

Donkeywings

I have a 100mm stem, and a 54cm Trek Madone 3.1 (i'm 5'8")
I generally find this pretty comfortable, although my arms on the hoods are more or less locked out. I did a bike fit when I bought it, and was recommended that I get a slightly shorted stem. But, I tried the 90mm one and to be honest it made no noticeable difference, so I left it at stock till I could test it for a while.
After a few weeks of riding, the only real issue I am getting is numb bits (!) from the saddle after 2 hours+ riding, and I note from another thread that this can be caused by a too long reach to the bars.

Will shortening the stem by 20mm to 80mm cause more problems like twitchiness or instability? As I say, I find the current setup perfectly comfortable from a back/arms point of view, but I need to sort out the numb bollocks. The saddle is a Bontrager Affinity 1, and to all accounts is a decent saddle, so not sure about changing that instead.

I went though the same issue with my MTB whch has an SDG saddle. I replaced the stock SDG for a Bel-Air SL, but after £70 more spent, I have gone from a ridiculously uncomfortable saddle, to a plain uncomfortable saddle. Don't really want to waste loads more money on any change that won't actually make a difference.

cheers

Sprool

80mm stems are getting pretty short for a road bike. Why not pick up a cheap one on ebay and fit it to see if it helps the posture? You can expect more twitchy/less stable steering with a short stem.
I'm a bit stretched on my new road bike and 110 stem - What I found helped was flipping it over and removing a spacer. This made the bars a little higher and a little nearer, riding feels more comfortable - I've been riding MTB's too long. I still think I need a 100 or a 90 so I'm just watching ebay for something cheap to try out.

blackpoolkev

A 100mm stem is nicely in proportion to your bike.I suspect the solution to your woes rests around your saddle or your posture on the bike.
You should not be resting your weight on your 'bits'.The bony points in your buttocks should perch on the wide part of the rear of the saddle.I bought a Specialized saddle(they offer a range of widths),it was 13mm wider than my previous saddle and made a big difference.Check out the sizing advice for their saddles for reference,yours may well be the right size for you.
Avoid straight arms and back.Develop your core strength(hips ,stomach,back) to clamp yourself to the bike,not your arms.

♠ChumBucket♠

Might be stating the obvious but......... can your saddle be moved forward any?

Sprool

but isn't this the wrong adjustment, as you will alter the position of the knees above the pedals?
If the knees are positioned correctly over the pedals for max efficiency then changing the stem size or position will help.

me-109

♠ChumBucket♠ wrote:

Might be stating the obvious but......... can your saddle be moved forward any?

Step away from the allen keys - this is not a solution to reach problems (if it is a reach problem).

smidsy

Put simply - yes a shorter stem does make the steering more 'lively' but if your fit requires less reach and you are sitting correctly over the BB then other than changing bikes it is the only real solution.

rolf_f

smidsy wrote:

Put simply - yes a shorter stem does make the steering more 'lively' but if your fit requires less reach and you are sitting correctly over the BB then other than changing bikes it is the only real solution.

Indeed. Besides, whilst the steering will feel twitchy for ten minutes or so, you should quickly get used to it.

Another thing that may help is more compact handlebars (particularly if the problem is more noticeable whilst you are on the hoods or drops).

drlodge

Rolf F wrote:

Another thing that may help is more compact handlebars (particularly if the problem is more noticeable whilst you are on the hoods or drops).

+++1 I recently changed from an old Cinelli bar/stem stem to a Ritchey Logic bar/stem, and was able to move from a 10cm to 12cm stem with the brake hoods remaining in the same position. The "reach" of old bars around the hoods is therefore about 2cm greater than modern ones, new bars therefore allow you more "room" when on the tops of the bars.

Cannock Chase

I too have a 54cm Madone 3.1 2013 model. Just looked and my stem is 90mm. Even though the Trek is fitted with compact bars, I have these on my other road bike and they are extremely comfortable. About £25-30.
http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/199/Omega-Compact

g00se

I recently went from 110mm to 90mm - and didn't notice any change in the twitchyness - and it was twitchy enough to start with.

SaintMark

Donkeywings wrote:

Will shortening the stem by 20mm to 80mm cause more problems like twitchiness or instability?

In theory it would, but I just went from 130 to 100mm stem and didn't notice any change in handling, if anything it is better as I feel more comfortable. Neck/shoulder pain I was getting disappeared after 2-3 rides and I won't be changing back.

Changing stem didn't do anything to relieve saddle soreness on long rides though.

Donkeywings

Ok - thanks for all the replies.
I will have a fiddle with saddle position first and see how it goes.
I don't actually have an issue with the reach as such - its perfectly comfortable - I just saw another thread that said the reach might be making me sit on the wrong part of my ass (and hence causing the numbness)
I'll try some adjustments first before thinking of swapping bars, stems, spaces, etc.
cheers!

smidsy

Saddle needs to be positioned so your pedal action is correct THEN you sort out the reach once the saddle is set correctly.

Relationship between saddle and BB is the key.

♠ChumBucket♠

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