Stem & Handlebar combo opinion please?

Tuga

Hi everyone!
I've just started on the wonderful sport that is MTB. Got myself a Scale 29'er. I'm 6foot and went with a L size. It has a 6degree angle stem (upwards), 90mm long with a T bar 700 mm wide. Somehow I feel I'm too forward on the bike and after a while riding it I get a bit sore on my hands and strain on shoulders. Also going down it feels I'm going over the bar. Was planning on getting a wider handlebar 740 with either a 15 or 20 mm rise. However I was told I will need to shorten the stem too otherwise in a way it betrays the point and it would feel strange to ride!
Any suggestions? Many thanks

rockmonkeysc

Experiment using cheap parts from ebay. No one can tell you what set up will work for you.
Start with wide bars and you can cut them down if you need to.

rickbst170

As above, but as a quick reference point, think about body position.

When you go down a hill you shift your weight over the rear wheel. Therefore your arms are stretched in front of you. Having a short stem and wide bars means your turning is direct and slow, so stable and not twitchy.

When you climb a hill you potentially stand. Your weight is forward on the bike, over the front/forks. Now, your short stem is under you and feels twitchy. Your wide bars are slow to respond as you have less leverage (pushing down in them instead of pulling from behind).

Depending on what you ride (mostly downhill, mostly falt and uphill or a bit of both) will give you a starting point. Then, as above, trial and error for your arm length/bike geo.

When I used to ride xc back in the day (take what I say with a pinch of salt, I've been out of the mtb world for nearly a decade so times have changed but physics stays the same) I rode 650mm bars and 90mm stem, no ride on bars or stem. Downhillers are not running up to 800mm bars and direct stems. I'm going to put 711 with 19mm rise bars and 60 or 70mm stem on the all mountain bike I'm building.

Hope that helps. But when I rode there was no such thing as 10 speed cassettes, 29ers or 27.5ers so new tech might change what I've said, others will know better.

Cookeh

As above, basically. But you also need to factor top tube length into that.

Grab some cheaper used components off eBay or other sites as Rockmonkey recommended, you'll be able to judge for yourself what works after a few rides with different set-ups. Also means you won't lose too much on resale of the parts you don't want.