70mm too short on road?

I think if I put a 70mm stem on my croix de fer, it will make it just that little bit more comfortable, allowing me to sit my hands on the hoods without feeling too stretched.

I found an old thread from some other website the other day where plenty of people were saying you shouldn’t go less than 90mm on the road, it’ll make it “twitchy.”

What’s the general consensus on here?

Also, I changed the tyres today to Gravelkings and I’m well pleased with the improvement, it feels so much more lively. I’m afraid I’m starting to like riding on the road.

I’ve got a really short stem on my Roadrat that has the longer flat bar geo and it rides fine. OK its more relaxed geometry as a super steep race bike, but no problems with handling or it feeling twitchy. Go for it.

After a bike fit my Mrs ended up with a 50mm stem on her road bike. Nobody died as a result although it did look a little odd.

Depends on the bike, obviously, but I’d say the CdF is closer to a tourer than a race bike, so a shorter stem and more upright position will work for you without ruining the handling. My old AWOL and my current Breezer Radar have 70mm stems and I lived to tell the tale.

I have a charge filter, similar type of bike to a cdf, fitted with a 65mm stem, no adverse affect on handling compared to the original (much longer) stem.
Definitely not twitchy, although it’s not exactly a race bike eh.
Do it.

80mm on my RAG+ with some wide flared bars does the job and makes the drops more usable for my short arms.

Not uncommon with smaller size frame – particularly as Genesis have stupidly long top tubes in their ‘small’ frame sizes. Provided your knees aren’t hitting the bars, it won’t affect handling as much as ramming the saddle forward in the rails which is what many people end up doing

Decision made then!

You could also look at the forward reach of your drop bars. There can be quite a difference there so a short reach bar will bring the hoods closer but not the flats

Just fitted a 30 degree 60mm stem to my Friston. I don’t care if it’s fashionable as long as it’s comfortable.

Hhmm …. see the classifieds 😀

Do you move your hands from the hoods to the tops and suddenly think it’s really twitchy. No, and that is not only shortening the effective stem by a fair degree but also narrowing the effective bar width. Ad above short reach drops may be the best option if you are happy with position on the tops

It will feel slightly different when you first ride it for 10 minutes and after that you won’t even notice or think about it.

I found short stems only start to feel unpleasantly twitchy as you travel faster… I had one too many scary moments descending at ~25mph around a sweeping bend on my local hill reps, while using a 35mm Corto stem with 747mm Knuckleballs on the Wazoo, been using an old Specialized 110mm now for at least 18 months and it’s far more stable in such situations.

Will be fine – since

particularly as Genesis have stupidly long top tubes in their ‘small’ frame sizes.

…another view of that could be that the 10mm reach progression per size from 365mm on XS up to 405mm on XL, is imo about right for a bike like this that needs to have ISO-compliant front-centre dims for bigger tyres and guards.

you shouldn’t go less than 90mm on the road, it’ll make it “twitchy.”

Maybe if you have a steep angled race bike. A CdF is far more relaxed. The only negative could be less weight on the front wheel in corners but a subtle weight shift will account for that.

My first road bike ended up with a 90mm stem to get comfortable. I took a risk on the next bike, went a size down on the frame and now ride with a 120mm stem to achieve the same reach.

Handling was noticeably improved. More stable at speed and I felt more confident on fast technical descents.

Twitchy race bikes though. As above if the CdF is more relaxed it might not be dramatic. For the cost of a stem I’d suck it and see. I have found in the past that a slightly elevated stem, either through spacers or angles can make a bike feel less stretched out. Never really noticed a difference in handling when I’ve done this.

For the same position (reach), a shorter stem and longer top tube puts less weight over the front wheel than a longer stem and shorter top tube. So the handling feels more twitchy and less planted. 60 mm says the frame is too big. I don’t like to go below 80 really, but any frame will fit. It is always better to err on a smaller frame and longer stem.

Too short and your knees may contact the bars on climbing, but that’s pretty extreme. It will fit fine, but not handle as well as a properly fitting frame and stem combination.

The thing is though, it’s a Large frame but I’m 6’2. I’m probably supposed to be on an XL. (The bike was an ex display bargain.) I’ve got the sale forward on the stock layback post.

My hands naturally fall on the outside curve of the bar. If I put them fully onto the his I feel too stretched (got 90mm stem on the at the moment.) Think the bar has 80mm reach

Have you ridden drop bar bikes much before? When I got my first one I tried to adjust it so it felt more like my MTB which I was used to riding. What ultimately worked better for me was working more on my core strength and flexibility so I could lean forward without all the weight going onto my hands. You may find yourself going back to a longer stem at some point, but it takes time to adjust, I’d stick a shorter stem in for a while and see how you like it.

No, it’s my first drop bar (as a grown up at least.) I’ve had it a while now, but only now actually getting into riding it and actually getting something out of it. It was originally just for chariot pulling duties really.
I’ve got zero core strength and terrible posture!

Can get A brand x for a tenner. I’ll give that a go. If I like it and that Thomson is still for sale in the classifieds, then maybe…..

I found an old thread from some other website the other day where plenty of people were saying you shouldn’t go less than 90mm on the road, it’ll make it “twitchy.”

Well considering it’s not a pure bred road bike, I don’t see any issues. I wouldn’t even contemplate it on a traditionally angled / geometry road bike as it could well be bloody horrible to ride, but on what is essentially a ‘cross bike you’ll be fine.

I’ve got a 60mm stem on my london road and it’s fine, for me any way….

Do you move your hands from the hoods to the tops and suddenly think it’s really twitchy. No

Or… yes.

Try a fast descent on the tops, it’s kinda twitchy.

Anyway, 70mm on a CdF won’t make the sky fall in, give it a go.

I’ve got the sale forward on the stock layback post.

Saddle fwd? As in, right forward? If so, try moving it back. Get your weight in balance by sitting a bit further back and you’ll have less of that tipping-forward feeling you may be getting now. If you have the right addle height for a 6’2″ rider on a L CdF you may have a bar that’s a bit low, tipping you fwd more. Check the saddles not too high (many riders have them too high) and move it back and see how it feels?

Seems as though Genesis have re-thought their small frame sizing, with XS and S sizes with more proportionate top tubes. I run a 70mm stem on my SS CX/gravel bike to compensate for the wider flared bars. I also run lots of layback on my seat post to get my weight back as it helps improve grip on the loose surfaces. I find a more aggressive ‘road’ position is less suited to offroad as too much weight on the front wheel might cause it to drift in loose/ soft condition as I found from years of racing CX bikes.

I’d agree with jameso above about trying to move the saddle back. When I started riding drop barred bikes more, I also felt too stretched and tried to compensate shortening the distance between saddle and bars, which didn’t really help, as it would only make my neck and upper back sore. The answer for me was moving the saddle back, which puts more weight on the bum as it moves further back from the BB and conversely lightens the upper body, which can then be more comfortably stretched into a lower position making the bar feel closer.

You don’t make a bike fit by moving the saddle. Saddle position is based on leg length and seat tube angle. I always set those independently first. Then I set the reach and stack once rider is in a neutral position taking weight through the legs properly. That way you won’t be using your arms as a truss, nor stressing your back.

Wife is 5′ 2″ (158cm) and she needed a 60mm stem on her road bike (48cm road bike, came with an 80mm stem). zero concerns on twitchiness, you should be more than ok

just to throw something crazy (not really) into the mix here: to the OP – how do you have your bars and hoods set up? For example, are they level with the ground or tilted up or even down? If they are level or tilted down then you can tend to be resisting your hands sliding forward, if you tilt them up a little towards you (5-10 degrees) then you might find your hands better supported with the heel of the hand on the fat part of the hood and as a result less like you’re reaching. I have the line of the bar tops to hoods about in line with my stem, which must be about 6 degree rise and the hoods angled in slightly + some flared bars (easton AX50) and it’s a comfortable set up.

This might not help but worth looking at changes you can make without spending money

Well I ended up compromising and getting an 80mm stem from superstar. I think it might be Bob on, after a ride tonight I noticed my hands settling more naturally into the hoods. Might fiddle with the bars a bit more to make sure it’s as good as can be, but definitely a noticeable difference.

It was a clearance offer though so I had to settle for chrome, looks a bit random but I’m not arsed about that.

I had an 85mm stem on my old Cotic > X < . I also had a weird angle on the handlebars.

It was fine but the basic issue was that I’d bought an overlarge frame because I thought it looked like I was running too much post on the smaller size and being the tart I am I couldn’t have the colour I wanted unless I got the larger frame.