I have tested a Lapierre Zesty 314 and Stumpy FSR Elite so far today. I found that on the Zesty I almost felt like my hands were too close to my hips to feel balanced on the bike. The stumpy was not so pronounced but still felt short. I tested both in a ‘medium’ – I am 5’9 and frame size wise – height off the ground etc they felt right. Is this purely down to stem length and back sweep of bars? Or is this usual of FS bikes – only ridden HT prior to this.

if you don’t feel comfy try a different one.

I intend to! This was merely a request for any experience out there. The bike was fine in all other aspects I’m just wondering if the feeling I got was due to the stem length or not – but hey I thought thats what these forums were for????? Asking people who might know, a question they may know the answer to………guess not then eh mrmo

How high were the stems up the steerer tubes? Some new bikes can have the stems quite high up, it could make it feel quite short?

I think you can get used to a wider range of positions than test rides may suggest, it can take a dozen rides to really settle in and tweak a new bike to the perfect set-up.
Test bikes that feel ace instantly may be replicating a position you’re used to – ‘used to’ is not always best and the new bike may work better with the different ride position, it could take more than an hour or so to settle into it tho. But it’ll definately be better than buying without a test and getting something really wrong.

I recently replaced a layback post with a straight one and got wider bars on my hard tail with a 50 mm stem. It feels shorter, but ‘better’ and wierdly more stable, especially on the muddy ride in the woods I went on yesterday. The ride along the canal felt more cramped on the way to the woods, but thats something I can deal with to be honest. As jameso says, a test ride may feel weird, but a proper ride may bring the best out of the bike’s setup.

I almost felt like my hands were too close to my hips to feel balanced on the bike

“currently fashionable” low wide bars combined with a short stem can make your position feel as if your hands are no longer out in front of you and as if you are too far forward.

hard to comment without seeing you on the bike

did it feel too short when stood up as well or just when seated?

Did you not think about trying a bigger size

I did think about a bigger size but at that time in the shop they only had the medium in the zesty. I’m guessing that it just fely way diferent to what I ride normally – yes that doesn’t mean right but I feel more planted on my HT (18″ frame and 80mm stem. Both FS bikes left me feeling as GW suggested. I did try moving the saddle – and I must admit the stemm did seem veryshort but again I’m comparing to what i have now which is not what I tried!! thanks or the advice though and I will be trying a number of different bikes also.

Can you move you hips back a bit?