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I'm just finshing off building my new Orange 5 in a kind of hard-trail use/all-mountain spec, and can't decide what stem length to go for. I can't decide between 70mm for handling, 90mm for better climbing or ??.mm?!?
What works best for you? Am I missing the holy grail of stem length? I don't want to get it wrong and have to buy twice.
Help me please, your my only hope!.....
Changed my stock 90mm for a 60mm on the Meta 5 after about a year, then recently changed for a 50mm and changed the stock bars for 740mm at the same time. Now happy.
<EDIT> 6'3" riding size XL </EDIT>
I have the stock 90 on my '09 Five, and happy with that, but haven't tried changing it, so limited help I expect.
Edit: 20" frame, 6'1" rider
It depends on how tall you are, arm length, riding style etc. You can't just buy a stem at a certain length and expect it to be right or ask other people what they ride.
50mm on every bike I own. 🙂
Agree with flow
It's what works for you not what everyone else is running, style of riding, your size, your bike size etc all come into the equation. FWIW i run 50mm stems and wide bars both on my Soul and my Pitch but thats my preference, others wouldn't necessarily get on with it.
short (40-70mm) stems on all my bikes. Can't really tell the difference between them to be honest, just bolt it on and be done
Flow. I'm 5'10 and a teeny bit and very average build all round (without monkey arms!). Style-wise, I would say aggressive trail and fairly competent as in not afraid for the wheels to come off the ground. Looking for the best balance between going up, down and round corners.
65mm on the Heckler.
70mm on the SS & HT
120mm on the CX
All ridden off road, just kinda horses for courses IMHO.
85mm is the right stem length for you
70mm and a circa 700mm low riser bars and swap out to 620mm flat bar with 100mm stem in marathon/xc mode on Turner flux @ 5ft 11"ish.
I do wonder about all these folks who swap to shorter stems than the manufacturer put on them, esp if not putting on wider bars too(you never hear of people putting on longer than stock so it can't all be about fit). Do they not trust the bike manufacturuer to know what works well with their frame or is it all about the downhill or even not wanting to be too stretched because we are a bit portly and probably walking on the ups anyway?
flow has it. Dependant on your height, arm length, bike geom etc..
i'm short so like short stems. get some tatty SH ones and see what you like?
50mm. It's more fun that way.
Just lean forward a bit more when going up hill.
Anything less than 130mm is for people who can't steer.
Have to agree. Setup is a personal preference based on you and the bike.
FWIW, 18" '07 Five, stock 90mm 10deg Thomson stem, 660mm Easton bars, 6'1" rider. It's been like that for 4 years. Currenty considering 70mm with 711mm bars for a bit of aggro.
I run a 90mm 6 degree on my Kona Unit, but on my previous geared bikes I always ran 70mm.
I found that my usual 70mm stem was too short on the singlespeed and I felt a bit cramped when standing up on the pedals.
I'm 5ft 7 and usually ride frames with between 22.5" to 23" effective tubes.
All comes down to your build and what you are using the bike for...
I'm 5'10" I currently use:
XC - 80mm stem, 685mm wide low rise Eastons
DH/Hack HT - 50mm Stem, 710mm wide 2" rise Azonic bars
Winter Rigid/SS - 80mm Stem, 710mm wide Flat Kona Bars (with 12 degree sweep)
Road - 80mm stem, 440mm wide FSA drop bars
of course none of the above will really help you as you are not me... Or are you???!!? 😯
80mm x 0 degree Thomson on Large Mojo SL with 740mm low rise bars. My issue is my arms are disproportionately short compared to my legs :6'1", 35" inside leg, arms like a T-rex.
I ran it with a 60mm to start with, absolutely hated it, far, far too twitchy. One of the reasons I didnt got for an XL (well, that and I couldn't reach the bars...)
buy several cheap stems second hand and decide yourself.... then buy a nice one.
Ahh, and top tube length, forgot about that.
Forgot to mention. I'm on an 18in Five.
50mm on both mtbs with 27" bars as always
50mm on one bike and 90mm on the other. As suggested above, buy some cheap ones to try, I think on-one had some on sale a little while ago, ride around with each for a couple of weeks to see what you prefer.
You are the same height and bike/size as me, only mine hasn't been delivered yet. The Five I demoed had a 70mm on and that felt like a good all round stem. Not to short for climbing, good control on the downs etc. Maybe try a 70mm and go from there.
I'm 6ft and have a 70mm thomson 4X on my 2010 five. Perfect for me.
Actually the multiple cheap stems idea isn't a bad one,
you can probably get 4 or 5 "Exotic" branded ones from ebay for the price of a single Thompson, I've had loads of them and they work a treat...