[Closed] Shortest stem for trail riding...

i use a 50mm.

But, i'm a freak, with really long legs - i ride a 21" frame, and need the short stem to make the bike fit. It's really not the best solution, but custom frames are not cheap, and i'm happy with the way my bike handles.

if you're a normal shape, it's 70/80 for the win.

A mate's got the 30mm syntace one and it seems fine.
There's also the Mondrakers with those 0mm ones. Look odd but work fine.

50mm is probably more the norm only because that was the shortest widely available length until fairly recently.

50mm here.

Have NS Quark stems on 2 of my bikes 40mm, not the lightest 200g +/- and come in some gopping colourways but they also offer 25.4 for retroists
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/stems?f=4294966860
crc had them very cheap a while back

even stuck one on my xc bike, its got a long tt so got away with, can lift a bit on climbs, but worth it for descending 🙂

[img] [/img]

It was 60mm til the faceplate cracked (On-One CNC stem), so switched back to standard one which is 75mm.

Ideally it would be 65mm, although my next frame will have a longer TT and shorter-stem.

50 on my FS which has a longer TT and 70 on my HT. I find it interesting these days that 70mm is beginning to be considered long!

I like Mondraker's take on bike design/layout me

I-Ache - have you any 60mmish stems knocking about in the shed?

45mm, flipped on Frankenbike, will be having a syntace 30mm one soon 😀

I have a 35mm Straighline stem on my trailbike - works a treat, on a XL Spec Enduro so super long reach frame.

El Guapo 35mm stem on my Canyon. It felt twitchy for the first 20 mins. Just feels normal now. I bought it to fix a sizing rather than a handling issue.

Mondraker FTW
[img] [/img]

The Mondraker stems are gopping! I have a thing about stems, I hate ugly ones. And they are bloody high too. So much for the low front ends with flat bars etc.

Patriot, I think I have a 65mm Straitline stem. I will have a look. It's well made but bloody ugly!

I don't get why Mondraker did not create their own bars - from in front of steerer stem, bars sweep back, then straighten. Would put your hands in same position, same 'trail'(?) compared to forks - but lower...?

Mondrakers have very short head tubes. The height would not be a problem on one of their frames.

Would like to try one out.

50mm stem on my everything bike as well as my little hard tail. It feels spot on on my Rune with 780mm bars and doubt I'd go any shorter. I could possibly do with a slightly longer stem on the BFe but I'll leave it as is.

I've used this length for yonks now although my bars have got wider.

Those Mondraker's look awful with that stem. It reminds me of that silly zero reach thing that Azonic did in the late ninties.

Good grief, my 90mm stem seems silly long compared to you lot! Its a 10 yo bike, so the angles prob wouldnt work too well with it. So any shorter would means it'll wander and lift on the climbs.

I revitalized a nine year old frame with a short (70mm) stem and wide (710mm) bars. Despite the unfashionable angles (69.5 H/A) I found that the bike felt much nicer to haul around.

Nowadays, my XC bike retains the 70mm stem but with 750mm bars. My AM bike has a 50mm stem and 760mm bars and feels all the better for it.

Seems I'm not radical enough these days!

Without trawling through tons of searches while not knowing exactly what to search for, can someone explain the dynamics of stem lengths and how they affect the bikes feel?
Also what is considered a long tt and old school geometry etc.

I have 50mm stems and just accept a way a bike feels but don't know if a change in stem would ruin the bike or make it amazing!

I genuinely don't care how well the Mondrakers ride, they're too ugly to consider. Sorry, progress, come back when you're pretty.

Stem length's a function of loads of things, I basically just go for the shortest one I can use while still being able to go up a hill in a straight line. Which is 50mm on most of my bikes, weirdly.

50mm on the full suspension
70mm on the hardtail

I have a 60mm.

I personally wouldn't go shorter. Was tempted to go up to 70mm but I didn't really want to get over the front any more. 60mm works for me!

How about putting a stem on back to front? Then you could have a -110mm stem - job done.

How about putting a stem on back to front?

I suspect that would result in very odd handling indeed?

Interested i_ache...let me know...

I genuinely don't care how well the Mondrakers ride, they're too ugly to consider. Sorry, progress, come back when you're pretty.

@jameso - what sort of stem length for Jones H-bars, then?

80mm 0°Thomson on my Jones loop bar