Constantly in the bike mags, they are always banging on about shorter stems being so good, so.. why is it so dificult to buy them! seems such a limited amount out there. Surely the manufactures are aware that people want them! You only seem to get them at either extreme of price ranges, so i better get saving!

How short is short. All my bikes have 100mm stems, which is a lot shorter than I used back in the day, 120mm-135mm.

Most maufacturers do 50-70mm stems – FSA, Thomson, Hope, Race Face etc etc

Swapped a 90 for a 70mm, bigger difference than I expected. Easier to loft the front wheel, sharper steering etc.

Highly recommended, plenty around for £20 or there abouts

where are you looking?

Try on-one and their 456 stem – particularly if that 500 sale is still on, as they had them for a tenner.

There are hundreds of different short stems out there at virtually every price point.

Thomson do a 50mm, and all other sizes too. What more do you need?!

“Constantly in the bike mags, they are always banging on about shorter stems being so good”

Should that read:?
Constantly in mbr, they are always banging on about shorter stems being so good

Oh MBR said that? Id best get one then to go with my riser bars lol

Benji says much the same in his bike reviews.

i dont understand how you can fit a shorter stem to anything,stem length is relevant to body size and length of arms, i have a 720mm top tube and stem length on my bikes, any shorter and i would hit my knees on controls when climbing, so on my bikes i have, a 120 a 105 and a 100mm

and as for moving saddles back to compensate, surely the measurement of saddle over cranks position, is by length of leg and foot size.

Got myself a Thomson 70mm, bit more than i was looking to spend but worth it! I was not changing just because MBR said so, it was because after riding a friends bike, the steering seemed very slow on mine. I’ll find out what difference it makes tommorow!

tried it, stuck with 100-120, I’m 6′ tho and xc bikes/riding