Right, I went from a 70mm to 65mm and liked that change. So, if I go to a 55mm stem will I crash more often and never get up a hill again? I’ve asked this before but in all seriousness I like the idea of it but some advice from those that have made the ‘cut’ would be interesting to read.

Cheers,

Dan

i use 50mm on hummer and bottlerocket. have for years on the hummer

I’m trying to think how it will feel on the bike… And am struggling to get my head around whether I will feel more forwards i.e. if I am sat in the saddle will I feel like there is more weight moving through into wrists and if I am riding the braver stuff will I naturally shift my weight further back. Hmmm.

Anyone?

Recently switched from 90mm to 60mm stem. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head…

I will feel more forwards i.e. if I am sat in the saddle will I feel like there is more weight moving through into wrists and if I am riding the braver stuff will I naturally shift my weight further back

Try riding up a hill with just your fingertips on the bars, therefore your weight further back. Should give you an idea
Why are you going for a shorter stem? Other than “Wider and shorter is better” mantra in all the mags, I’m not sure why people do.
Which is why I swapped from the 120mm supplied to a 75mm one on my bike. I’m as impressionable as a blob of wax me…. 🙄

Try rotating your bars back a bit to get a feel for it?

I’m surpised you felt much difference going from 70 to 65.

Anyhow.

I recently went from a 70 to a 50 mm stem.

If you go for 55mm this will mean the bike will feel shorter.

You’ll need to adopt a slightly different position to get weight over the front for climbing.

Conversely, going downhill may feel more stable.

The steering will feel quicker and more twitchy, which takes a bit of getting used to – there are pros and cons to this… depends on personal preference

The only way you’re going to know if a shorter stem is a good idea is to suck it and see.

Just gone from 640 to 685 bar and 90 riser to 55 flat stem. Overall, big improvement which may be just down to the higher quality and stiffer components. Cornering much better and zig zag climbs easier – not really noticed a climbing difference.

The only downside is a twitchyness over small fast drop downs which includes not getting my weight back quick enough.

Horses for courses innit? What frame is it?

I’m running a 55mm on my Pace hardtail, which is basically an oversized BMX anyway. I like it. But the short stem and wide bars are paired with a slack head angle.

Putting a 55mm on my full susser? Not a chance. Its a much steeper head angle. I might as well just ask one of mates in with a shovel before we set off. The end result would be the same on the first descent

Is there a rule of thumb for this?

I run 660mm bars and 90mm stem with a 10 degree rise. I want to swap the bars out for 711mm but wondered if I needed to shorten the stem also??

I like the length and feel of my current cockpit but would like wider bars as I’ve always felt they were not wide enough. The bars would be a like for like swap in regards to rise and backsweep, just wider.

Just swapped from a 90mm thomson to a 50mm renthal on my blur 4X, feels fantastic now, super sharp up front, and it manuals really easily now 😀

It’s a series one Intense slopestyle. I’m running 745mm bars and 65.5degree headangle (I’m using an Angle-set).

You are all missing the important thing.

People will laugh at you if you carry on using the crucially unfashionable 65mm stem, whereas attractive women will want to have sex with you if you have a 55mm (or preferably shorter) one.

But beware – next week there will be a new cool bulletin which is expected to cover bar width and head angle, so you might have to throw the whole lot away and start again.

I already have the attractive women and sex thing covered although I’m not keen on being laughed at.

I went with a 55mm Easton Haven bought from Merlin in the end. Tonight was it’s maiden voyage following an off a few weeks ago. It was a good decision. The steering felt more responsive/direct than before which is good as I’m running a 65.5 HA. In all the bike feels really stable, corners like a housefly and copes pretty well with twisty windy trails. Hopefully I’ll be well enough soon to hit the local DH spot to see how it all feels over some jumps and the like but at the moment that would cause me too much pain; still hurting from the afore mentioned off.

Cheers for the input folks.

…women will want to have sex with you if you have a 55mm (or preferably shorter) one

😀

he must know some strange women 😆

and he’s probably called Justin

as in “what do you call a man with a 55mm long willy?…Justin”

And he’s called BigJohn. Ah well.

We’re talking about stems here, not man roots.

It takes a big hammer to drive a big nail.