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I have a 2011 Cube Acid hardtail with 120mm (I think) Easton stem. I ride XC in the Peaks, so lots of rocky descents and ascents, often pretty steep. I've been told that my descents would be better controlled by fitting a shorter stem (more responsive steering, easier to get weight over the back wheel etc) but there would be a bit of a trade-off in terms of making the uphills harder. How much impact does a shorter stem really have on the handling of the bike? Does 120mm strike anybody as a bit too long for the sort of riding I've described?
What stem lengths do you lot use for this type of riding? Ta for any advice.
120mm sounds like the rudder of a barge 😉
I ride a much shorter stem in the same area as you, 50-70mm with 711-765mm bars. I like it, you might hate it. Can you try a shorter stem? Buy a cheapie, borrow one off a mate?
120 is XC racer category.
Try something like an 80 and you'll notice a big difference without hitting the other extreme of 50mm.
Buy a second hand Thomson one of here for £35 ish and you'll be able to sell on for the same price nay bother so you can try it and go shorter or longer until you find your match.
I'm just about to go down from 90mm to a 50mm with wider bars - I got the stem for 20 quid off here, so if it doesn't work out it's no big deal.
I would probably drop to 90mm - nice compromise between XC and helping when it gets steep. You can pick up 90mm Thomsons pretty cheap as most people want the 70 or 50mm these days.
But it depends if you feel like you need it. I can't stand long stems but some people love them.
if you really hate it then go shorter but dropping from 120 to 70 might be a huge jump!
Interesting that no one has asked the OP how big here or his bike is!
If you are 6'5" then 120mm is okay!
I have a Specialized (75mm) you can have for a tenner courier posted...
I'm 5'10" on an 18" frame...
What angle is it, and does it fit an oversized 31.8 bar? And most importantly, what colour is it...? 🙂
try just going to 110 or 100, it is surprising what a difference it makes.
I was ridiculed yesterday for my inverted 110 and shoulder width bars 🙁
then I met someone on an anthem x who had just swapped from 130mm to 110, and felt better as my bike is in the same class of machine.
Bikes with slacker head angles seems to have shorter stems, to speed up the steering maybe. If you have a steeper head angle you may not want to do that.
What turner guy said. I got an evil sovereign last year and it felt horrible riding steep trails with a 65mm stem even with 710mm bars. The fit was spot on with a 90mm, and it stabilised the steering. You have to experiment to find what fits IMO