Stem length advise for Lapierre Zesty

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Stem length advise for Lapierre Zesty

10 posts & 9 voices | Started 6 months ago by jswain90 | Latest reply from GW

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jswain90 - Member

Had my Lapierre Zesty 314 for about 15 months now. Superb bike but I have never been that happy with the steering precision when descending MTB trails.

The bike just does not seem to take the line I want and just seems to wonder.

I want to improve the steering accuracy without compromising climbing ability too much.

Currently have the stock 80mm long Lapierre stem and 680mm long handlebars.

Just want advise on which of these parts I can change to improve my steering.

Will a 50mm long stem help with my problem? or do I need to have some longer handlebars?

Posted 6 months ago #
chakaping - Member

Shorter stem AND wider bars will transform the bike for you IMO.

60mm stem and 710mm bars worked for me on my old Zesty.

I like 730mm-ish bars with a 50mm stem.

Posted 6 months ago #
Bucko - Member

I swapped to 720mm bars and it helped with control and stability a lot.

I then swapped to a 60mm stem afterwards and i'm not entirely sure what, if any difference it has made, but then i am a bit rubbish. I may try a 50mm stem sometime.

I'm 5ft 9 and ride a medium Zesty

Posted 6 months ago #
rewski - Member

I'm running 70 with 710 bars, I'm 6ft 4. Goes exactly where I point, unfortunately that's sometimes into a muddy ditch.

Posted 6 months ago #
FuzzyWuzzy - Member

Changed my 314 to 50mm stem + 710mm bars, works great on fast stuff and not really noticed the front being more wayward on climbs.

Posted 6 months ago #
honourablegeorge - Member

+1 on wider bars, shorter stem.

What kind of fork have you got? If it's a QR fork, that might be part of it too. Maybe even a grippier front tyre.

Posted 6 months ago #
bowglie - Member

After some experimenting, I've settled on a 70mm stem and 720mm bars on my 2011 Zesty and it feels much better than the stock set-up - no problems descending any of the local Peak Distrct 'classics'. FWIR, the stock 80mm stem was a bit flexy compared to Thomson/Hope/Truvativ alternatives.

As the previous postee has mentioned, a sticky compound front tyre is an idea (especially this time of year). Other than stem/bar/tyre change, and possibly a DT wind up skewer to stiffen the fork - it might be a case of analysing and maybe modifying your descending technique (er...Sorry! )

Posted 6 months ago #
jswain90 - Member

Thanks guys for all the posts appreciate it. sounds like the longer bars and shorter stem may be the answer tomy problem.

I have fox float 32 rl's on the bike and do notice some flexing when riding the hope mamtor figure 8 which is my favorite route. After riding technical descents quite often the disc rotor catches the brake pads until it settles down and levels out again, could do with some stiffening up really.

I could have a play around with the rebound on my front fork as if the rebound is too fast this would cause the front wheel to 'wander' over rough terrain i suppose.

Would like a nice hope 60mm stem but had a look on crc and they only seem to sell 50 or 70mm lengths.

Posted 6 months ago #
rthomas17 - Member

@rewski - what size Zesty you got - L or XL?

Posted 6 months ago #
GW - Member

a short stem should help with your control issues but you shouldn't really need wider bars (or a supersoft compound front tyre)

if you think wider bars are needed simply slide your hands outwards until your pinkie's overhang the edge of each grip (unless like me, you already ride like this) coz that's more than the difference you'll experience going from 680 to 720 bars

Posted 6 months ago #

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