Which stem for Boardman MTB Comp

rajkumarpatel79

Hi All,
I want to replace my Boardman MTB Comp stem (100mm) with shorter stem. Please could anyone suggest/recommend me stem which I should go or is 100mm stem OK. Additionally what benefits shorter stem will gonna give me over 100mm stem. I do commuting/weekend biking which is mixed of uphill/downhill in woods and on-road as well.

regards
Raj

Chunkers1980

Is it broken? If not what are you expecting to achieve?

omegas

why do you want to change your stem length, what are you trying to achieve.

rajkumarpatel79

One of my colleague at work told me that you should get stem 90mm or less than that which will improve your riding experience while downhill and handling will also improve.

Chunkers1980

Think about it? Is 1 cm going to make much difference? He must be from the cool skool

rajkumarpatel79

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Think about it? Is 1 cm going to make much difference? He must be from the cool skool

Ok, relieved then. It was bothering me a lot. Thanks a lot.

omegas

rajkumarpatel79 wrote:

handling will also improve.

It will change the handling , for the type of riding you are doing it might /might not improve it.

Stems are cheap to purchase so it not the end of the world if you try a shorter one and you find it not what you want.

dhobiwallah

Current fashion is for shorter stems and wider bars.

Both alter handling characteristics. Shortening the stem 'speeds up' the steering which can also be described as 'making it twitchier'; which may be an improvement or detrimental to the current feel. It also moves your weight further back making downhills easier and uphills harder (front wheel more likely to lift up).

Whether you want to change the characteristics in this way depends on the shortcomings of your current setup.

Sweeping generalisation - but if you don't know what effect it will have you probably shouldn't bother and go with what Mr Boardman spent money on setting up till you are experienced enough to make an informed decision as to why you wish to spend your pennies. (Other than ' my mate said it will make it better')

rajkumarpatel79

Ok, for now I shall settle with 100mm stem only.

97th choice

Depends which model and what type of riding, I found my board man fs to be great on the flat but poor on descents, the overly steep head angle and long stem didn't help at all in that respect.