Advice - set up / stem length affect on handling
chris217
Posts: 217
chaps, recently got a '650b gravel bike
arrived with 100mm 7 degree stem & reasonably heavy set of wheel / wire bead tyres.
I have changed the stem to a 110mm to extend reach a bit and changed the wheels to a lighter pair along with Schwalbe G-one's
the handling seems very different the steering is less stable , more twitchy, steering seems to 'flop from side to side a lot quicker,appears less balanced.
I would have thought a longer stem would make it slower and more stable? but perhaps got it wrong.( the chopper long fork analogy and less able to balance) and perhaps with the riding I am doing 100mm will be more suitable
I guess I could just swap back to the 100mm and see, I assume the wheels / tyres would not have made a significant difference?
the fork rake is considerable and the head angle is quite slack so coupled with a longer stem perhaps this is why, but I am a bit clueless and welcome any thoughts experiences.
cheers
arrived with 100mm 7 degree stem & reasonably heavy set of wheel / wire bead tyres.
I have changed the stem to a 110mm to extend reach a bit and changed the wheels to a lighter pair along with Schwalbe G-one's
the handling seems very different the steering is less stable , more twitchy, steering seems to 'flop from side to side a lot quicker,appears less balanced.
I would have thought a longer stem would make it slower and more stable? but perhaps got it wrong.( the chopper long fork analogy and less able to balance) and perhaps with the riding I am doing 100mm will be more suitable
I guess I could just swap back to the 100mm and see, I assume the wheels / tyres would not have made a significant difference?
the fork rake is considerable and the head angle is quite slack so coupled with a longer stem perhaps this is why, but I am a bit clueless and welcome any thoughts experiences.
cheers
0
Comments
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I doubt 10mm would make that much difference. Have you inflated the tyres too much?0
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I think it's more to do with your tyre.
Change the front one over and your handling will be back to before.
1cm won't make the difference.0 -
Won't be the stem, but might be related to the tyre. Did you change the size of the tyre? I often get this when changing from road to cross, but I quickly get used to it.0
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Thanks all, tire is the same size 650b x 50 mil
But maybe slightly higher pressure otherwise it’s much lighter by about 180 g each tire as it’s a folding bead0
