Thought I’d share my journey just in case it helps others solve their fit and handling issues.
Anthem X 29’er, great bike but I knew I could get that long back end (which I love) to balance up better with the rest of the bike, stop the front ends tendency to push and plough when nearing the limits of grip and tailor the bike to ride the way I like. Started off looking for a different stem for that 1 ¼ steerer but found nothing but sold out £70 Giant own brand items. Next I wanted an angle-set but of course no one made them to the required size. Finally called Kevin at steamer-industries.blogspot.co.uk. One long and interesting conversation later and we had decided on a three step approach.
3 mods:
1 – Shim so I can run a stem for 1.5 in’ steerer. Not quite the selection as 1 1/8 but now I can have pretty much any length I like and there seem to be amazing deals for stems in this standard.
2 – 3mm offset shock bush. Reduced head angle 0.5 degrees and lowered the BB 3mm. Same bike, now just better balanced climbing and descending.
3 – 10mm stack height lower headset cup (OEM = 2mm). Different bike (the one I was trying to create). Big change this one as with the bush it gave a change of 1.5 degrees. My measurements give me 69 degrees from a starting point of 70.5. The BB height has ended up 1mm lower than standard.
I can’t stress enough the quality of Kevin’s work and knowledge. Every part was made to my measurement and was accurate to with a few microns as apposed to the parts that were on the bike that were all over the shop. I’m a form follows function man but he made sure the finishing touches were in place like polished cup and a top-hat to the shim that perfectly matches the spacers.
All in for just under 70 notes.