Short stems (50mm) for trail riding

Is anybody using a 50mm stem for regular trail riding? I found going from 90mm to 70mm hardly made any difference but the jump from 70mm to 50mm has been more noticeable. Granted am only had two short rides on it so perhaps a little early to tell, but just wondered if anybody else had opinion?

Calamity James – Member

Is anybody using a 50mm stem for regular trail riding?

yes.

blue-pig, it’s ace.

Always had a 50mm. Anything longer than 70mm feels weird.

Now I’m used to a 55mm, going back to an 80mm feels wierd – problem is that my bike’s too short now.

Yes. Was between a small and medium frame size. Went for the medium with a 50 mm stem. As above, anything longer now feels wrong .

Yes, 50mm on most of my bikes now.

Anyone want 100mm Thomson and RaceFace XC stems? or an 80mm Easton Vice? 😀

I think it depends what cycling background you come from.

Aside from doing the standard sort of bike ride when I was younger, I really started out riding dirt jumps & trials so a short stem was normal. I still use a short (60mm) stem on my mtb bike cos long stems feel a bit weird for jumps and the like.

Even if I had an out and out xc bike, I still think I’d use a 70mm stem on it.

What width bars with 50mm stem?

I’ve nearly always used a 50mm. I’m going to try a bit longer, around 70mm though. Need more room for “sitting down” riding and it may help to make the bike a bit less twitchy. I don’t really want to lose any flickability (is that a word?) for jumps and drops though.

Yeah – it’s all about weight balance / centre of gravity. The taller you are the longer the stem you can use but I still really prefer a short stem and I’m a gangly 6’1″. It matters much more if you mainly ride off the saddle – a long stem will put so much more weight forward that technical riding becomes really difficult. If you sit and spin in the saddle then it makes much less difference. I REALLY want a longer bike now, though, but have no money – anyone got a Large Pitch they want to give me!

Bars – surely a personal choice? I like wide bars as there’s loads more leverage and balance going on. The rule of thumb of them being as wide as your shoulders is garbage though imho. The more technical the riding, the wider the bars for me.

Your shape/proportions have a big influence on what feels right.
I’m 6’3″ and ride an XL Meta 5.
As my height is all in the legs, rather than body, I find a short stem feels fine all the time.
Coming down from the stock 90mm stem to a 60mm also improved the downhill ability no-end.
I’m seriously considering doing similar to my XC hardtail now.

depends on the bike, the 456 is great with a 50mm stem, the sanderson is probably best arroun 90mm, tried a 70mm on the DMR and it felt horrible, went back to 90 on that too.

I am 5’10” on a 18″ Five, so think 50mm is fine given my size on a relatively ‘roomy’ frame. Running 711 Sunline V1s so at slow speed is a little twitchy but willing to give it a longer go, just wondered what the general concensus was about short stems. Thanks.

I jumped from a 100mm to 50mm soon after I brought my Chameleon. So glad I did.

Long, steep uphills can be twitchy but the rest is all good.

Depends on what you are used to. I run 50-60mm stems on my jump, dh and xc bikes. When I buy an xc bike I make sure the top tube is long enough to allow for a decent stretch with a short stem. I wouldn’t want to ride a bike with a short stem and short top tube for xc. I find running frames too small for ‘chuckability’ odd. I think it is much better to have a correctly fitting frame or slight on the large side but run an inline post and short stem. This keeps the weight central for reasonable climbing ability and comfort for long rides but a nice short stem to make a bike feel good on steeper terrain or jumping.

Got a 50mm stem on my new carbon 456, reach feels good but was a bit twitchy with 685mm bars – so have swapped them for my 710mm ones.

Have settled on 60mm as the best length for my other bikes, but unfortunately I only have one 60mm stem and several 50mm and 70mm ones.

Why aren’t 60mm stems more popular? They seem just right!

Yeah – couldn’t agree more – wish I knew that when I bought my frame…

I’m 5′ 9″ riding an 18″ Orange Five 50mm stem and V1 711 bars feels fine, but sometimes I’d like a shorter frame 23″ TT instaed of 24″ but still with the 50mm stem.

yes, I have one on my bfe, my bullit, my other bullit and my battery. They are all the best thing since since sliced bread. (caveat, I’m stumpy)

So presumably a shorter stem will quicken up the steering and a much wider bar will then slow it down/balance it out?

I switched a 90mm one for a 50mm deity stem a while ago, and it feels like I have much more control of the handlebars. I really like the change. Doesn’t look too strange either, which is good 🙂