My Zesty is back from the dark ages of 2009 – I’ve just gotten around to fitting a wider bar – 710mm…but now finding the reach is a little further than comfortable with the current stem.

Any recommendations on a stem length? I do enjoy a good climb as well as a descent and just a bit worried that a wayward front end will become more obvious on steep techy sections…

Thanks

The rule of thumb is that if you increase bar width you should also reduce stem length too so no surprise you are finding the reach too long.

But handlebar and stem setup varies a lot as there are many factors, bike geo, personal geo and then personal preference.

See if you can borrow a mates stem or buy some cheap ones second hand to find the correct size.

I’d try going 10mm shorter first. Usually 5mm difference is not very noticeable and 20mm difference is very noticeable.

It would help if you tell us what width your original bars were, how long the stem is and whether it was comfortable before.

As a general rule to keep the fit the same, whatever amount you increase the bars by, you should take half of it off the stem.

Previous Bar was 660mm

Stem looks to be about 85mm. I am measuring from where the bolts join the faceplate to the main stem body – to the middle of the nut on the fork

Forgive my lack of terminology!

Stems are measured from the centre of the bars to the centre of the steerer clamp. Based on your previous bar and current stem, I’d say 60mm would be a good starting point. As Jairaj said above, it’s always worth buying a second hand or cheep stem such as one from carboncycles.cc to make sure it fits right before splashing out on a nice one.

I’ve plumped for a 65mm Superstar Zenit AM stem. Reasonably inexpensive….will let you know how I get on!