I have recently bought a second hand medium Giant OCR 2 from a guy at work.
Having riden it this weekend for the first time I felt that the stem thats 100mm long is to long as my arms were fully streched out and didn’t feel like they had any give and a 80mm stem would be better.

Speaking to the guy I bought it from today he tells me it should be the right size and that my back will stretch out as MTB’ers sit more up right and don’t stretch their backs.

So do anyone else ride MTBs and road bikes and have an opinion on sizing?

He is probably trying to make you feel better about your purchase. A road bike will feel different but shouldn’t be uncomfortable, just set it up however you feel is right.

How tall are you? and what size is the bike?

The stretched position on a road bike does take a bit of getting used to though.

You can try but beware 80mm stem may well make for a rather twitchy nervous handling bike which could be far less pleasent than the stretched out feeling you have at present.

When I first got mine, I set it up with a short stem, bars rolled back towards me a bit, seat forward, to get an short upright position.

Now I’ve put the seat back, bars in a proper position, longer stem and I spend a lot of time on the drops. I’m even starting to think it’s too short!

As above, the road bike position does take some getting used to.

I’ve got a short stem on my road bike and haven’t noticed any twitchy nervous handling.

I got it very cheap so there isn’t a worry of making me feel like I got a good deal. He hasn’t done much maintenance on the bike over the years and this weekend I striped and re-greased the wheel bearings and headset which needed doing.

The bike is a medium which I think is a 54. I am 5’7 so should be right. As with all bikes we all change a few bits to make it suit us so swapping a stem isn’t a big deal.

Would a 80mm stem make the handling that twitchy?
I have also considered a 90mm but not sure 10mm would really make that much of a difference.
I must admit it felt pretty scary being that far forward going downhill!!

As has been said, set it up how it feels comfortable. 10mm less on the stem can make a big differnce to how it feels and won’t make a huge difference to the handling. Bontrager stems are pretty good value and come in various lengths. Find yourself a good bike shop and they should let you try a few until you feel happy witht the set up. And,as has also been said, the position does take a bit of getting used to. Lots of people tend to only ride on the hoods. Also try flipping the stem if it’s set up ‘flat’, you may find the slight rise helps.

“I must admit it felt pretty scary being that far forward going downhill!! “

If you ride it often, you’ll probably get used to it.

Incidentally, I measured the reach on my 2 mountain bikes from the tip of the saddle to the bars, then did the same on the road bike to the dip of the hoods.

Mountain bikes were 22.5 inches. Cross bike was 25 inches. Road bike was 26.5 inches.

A good rule of thumb is that the distance from the nose of the seat to your handlebars should be the same as the distance from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger plus the width of your hand

It’s a touch too big for you, a small would be the ideal size. It can be made to fit so don’t worry to much. You need to do a decent ride on it to see where it is uncomfortable and work it from there. You’ll also need to give the change on position time as well.

Jackass I am not saying don’t put an 80mm stem on. Im just pointing out that going from 100mm to 80mm is quite a big jump ( why not try 90mm first? ) and it will make your steering faster ( i.e tiny movements will be magnified), which may well have a negative effect on your bikes handling and feel, particularly if your’e not confident at speed on a road bike in the first place.You may notice nothing or it could scare you shitless the first downhill you do at speed on less than dry roads.

No worries Ed, good valid points!!

Might see what cheap stems pop up on flea bay and once decided spend a bit more money on a good stem.

Anyone got a spare 80/90mm long 1-1/8th steerer stem for 26mm bars going cheap??

I’ve got a brand new 70mm one same as this you can have for a tenner.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Deda-Logo-Road-Bike-Handlebar-Stem-Black-70mm-NEW!_W0QQitemZ350191607906QQcmdZViewItem

Grumm, thanks but I think 70mm will be just too short

As mentioned above, as a general rule of thumb, if you’re 5’7″ and it’s a 54cm, it’s highly likely to be too big. Chuck the shorter stem on, see if it feels better.

I disagree that it might be too small without knowing anything about the proportions of the OP.
Just as an idea I’m 5’8″ and ride 56cm top tube road bikes with 100mm stems. I have a long body and arms relative to most people so it suits me fine, I also ride 54cm cx bikes.
Try turning the stem upside down and angling the bars up a touch for a while then gradually lower the bars every month or so.
Just whatever you do don’t set your bike up like the guy I saw on the Dragon Ride last year who had a cervelo R3 with about 150mm of spacers under an upturned 15degree stem and then constantly overlapped my back wheel bouncing off my rear derailleur before he then overcooked it on the other side and headed into a hedge.

I’m 5’10” 31″ inside leg and ride a 56cm road bike with a 100mm stem and it feels spot on.

I’m 5’9″ and ride a 55cm Bianchi with a 110mm stem, Specialized 54cm with an 80mm stem, a Lemond 53cm with 115mm stem and a Willer 54cm with a 100mm stem. Even with my own experience of the various manufacturers top tube lengths, I’d put this months salary on the 54cm Giant being too long for him.