Forum menu
Over the last couple of months I've swapped the stems and bars on all of my bikes. I now don't have a stem longer than 90mm, even this feels long after riding my bike with a 50mm, or a bar narrower than 685mm. When I first tried a short stem I thought it made the steering nervous, twitchy and horrid, but now I love them. Same with wide bars, I cut my first set down but now 685mm is the minimum I'd want. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Doesn't have to be with bar/stem set up.
I used to think titanium was a wonder material that made riding bikes better. I was wrong. I hated my Airborne Lancaster and now ride an Alu Scandal that is much more fun to ride.
wide bars and short stems confuse me...........
Short stem ---> twitch steering and cramped
So slacken off all the angles and add 2" to the top tube = steering back where it was before, but the wheelbase is now 3" longer so the bikes great in a straight line but hopeless in the twisty bits. 70-80mm is as low as you need to go on a hardtail IMO.
How much wider are wide bars? I was thinking I seem to be riding with my hands on the end of the bars.
I used to think that lightweight triple clamp forks were stupid. Then I rode them.
I used to think that getting your bike 'Alpine' ready was abit pointless but...after my first weeks riding in the Alps i have decided that next year i will be fitting a shorter stem, fitting a bashguard and possibly getting a height adjustable seat post 😀
I tricked myself into thinking that crashing doesn't really hurt that much.
Steel is real.
I used to think I had enough bikes.....
I have another one. My FOX 36 R VANILLA feel better than my much more expensive FOX 36 FLOAT RC2. I always thought coil wouldn't be as good as it isn't as tunable as air. Wrong. I only paid £90 for the FLOATs as a warranty replacement so I'm not too worried 😀
Try some 685mm or 710mm, 27" or 28" in old money I think. Also I found that it was much easier to set my controls up for 1-finger braking.How much wider are wide bars? I was thinking I seem to be riding with my hands on the end of the bars.
I used to think that lightweight triple clamp forks were stupid. Then I rode them.
i know you love these flash i just can't see where the advantage is, especially as in the next say 5 years i can see even downhill bikes being single crown. Now I haven't rode them but believe the spesh forks are fox made which answers why they are so good performance wise, but what do you feel the triple clamp adds?
Stiffness and steering accuracy, tails. It's an astounding difference over any similar travel single crown fork I've ridden. Real point and shoot type accuracy.
I was wrong to use Kona P2's forks on a commuter-mud guards are a pain to fit on as the crown is so far up from the tyre. Should use 440mm.
I told my wife that Come Dine With Me was rubbish. Turns out it's ace.
Wide(ish) bars and short stems are great. A short stem doesn't feel twitchy to me but then that's all i've ever ridden with on my own bike.
Tried various demo bikes and mates bikes and any stem 60mm or longer feels sluggish and horrible on downhills, not a fan at all.
As for bars I like something that is slightly wider than my shoulders that gives good stability going down, but not so wide as to get stuck in narrow sections.
As for being wrong about something, i'm willing to admit that a granny ring does have certain advantages and isn't only for pansies.
Ski bunny Kirsty on last night's Come Dine with Me 😀
i wasnt going fast enough for that gap...
I used to think carbon fibre was the holy grail of road bikes, then after I bought one I rode an alloy Cervelo and a steel Bob Jackson, both just as smooth and stiff for a fraction of the cost (and won't be potentially written-off by chain suck).
I thought you had to have full suspension. I was so wrong.
I thought I'd be fine with just a hardtail instead of my heckler. I was wrong.
That I'd never ride a DH bike or HT
Incorrect on both counts