This is just a thought exercise at the moment, but I may have the opportunity of a killer deal on a bike that I fall between sizes on.

Ideally I’d bring the reach back about 10mm.

I was thinking:

– Raising the stem (I like a high-ish handlebar) with a flatter bar
– Fitting a 10mm longer than stock fork (bike is rated for this and it would suit my needs)
– Possibly a single offset bushing

I’d prefer not to bother with a reach adjust headset, but I guess that could be an option too.

Have I missed anything?

Yeah 10mm overforking with a stack of spacers

Bang your saddle forwards?

Bang your saddle forwards?

That will probably happen anyway to optimise the climbing position, but I’m talking more about standing reach – the horizontal distance from the centre of the BB to the top of the head tube.

I believe this can be tweaked using the methods I’ve suggested.

Saddle forwards doesn’t affect reach, which is a standing-up measurement.

Raising the fork will raise the CoM which might have a detrimental effect on handling.

You could then lower it again with an offset bushing, maybe, but that would slacken it further.

Double-check your saddle position cannot be optimised by bringing it forward.
Bar with more sweep.
Wider bar.
Shorter stem.
All spacers under stem.
If stem has bit of angle to it, flip it upwards.

You might make use of http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php for stem changes.

One short and one long crank. 🙂

Aye but then he’ll just be going round in circles.

in all honesty..
would you actually notice any difference in 10mm reach change, considering we are talking about it as stood in the attack position.
my two main bikes have nearly 50mm difference in reach, apart from the extra stability of the longer bike i dont notice it. Except seated (which as discussed isnt reach) were there is some 25mm difference in effective top tube, i havent measured saddle to bars just going from geo figures
I wouldn’t sweat it, if you are going from one bike to another there are so many variables that getting reach the same is pretty irrelevant, just work for what rides correctly.

Stacking spacers makes the fit “bigger ™”; less horizontal from bb to the bars but more vertical which wins out.

Lee McCormack would disdain.

The key is how low the frame stack measurement is that goes with the frame reach. If the stack is low, the “reach” may be marketing and not actually that long. You need both parts of this puzzle to understand how much you need to furtle the fit.

I would suggest riding it 10 times before deciding you need to do anything.  It’ll probably be ace just as it is.

Why not a reach adjust headset?

That’ll be the closest thing to reducing reach and keeping the rest of the geometry the same then you still have options to fine tune with stem spacers and bar rise to get comfortable.

Try plugging your geometry into this tool. It’ll let you see the overall affect of changing any one thing (stem spacers, bar rise, reach and head angle adjust, fork length etc).

in all honesty..
would you actually notice any difference in 10mm reach change,

It did for me – theres a clear tipping point. I suspect it’s not reach per-se, but its effects weight distribution through the axles.

Why not a reach adjust headset?

Last resort due to cost & faff.

would you actually notice any difference in 10mm reach change

Yeah, it’ll be good in some areas, maybe not so good in others – I need a backup plan though.

The key is how low the frame stack measurement is that goes with the frame reach. If the stack is low, the “reach” may be marketing and not actually that long.

The stack is a touch lower than my other bikes, but I’ve had a quick go on the size I’m looking at – and it still feels noticeably longer. As above, I just need to identify counter-measures I can take for if it does turn out to feel a bit too barge-like.

bring saddle forward, rotate bars back, raise bars, fit a slackset – with will bring the steer towards you.
Or buy a bike that fits

would you actually notice any difference in 10mm reach change

This.

Or buy a bike that fits

This too.

If the frame is too big for you, you will always struggle to get comfortable on it.

Did you mention your height?
When I bought into Chris Porters Geometron experiment back in 2015 my reach went up by nearly 4”

And, standing, it just felt natural. A few years later I bought his G1 and went to XL (535 reach, I am 6’2”)

I agree that you should ride it a while and I suspect you’d grow to like a longer reach than the previously prescribed “standard” fit.

You could always use a 30mm stem and even 30-40mm Rise bars rolled back a bit.
Adding a longer fork might properly mess up the balance. IF it’s a modern geo bike you might soon grow to live the longer reach.

Try a bar with a touch more backsweep? I’ve got an SQ Labs 3ox, 12 degrees. I bought mine to ease some elbow pain, which it has done. A mate tried them preferred the feel to his, but more of a natural position for the wrists, so he’s got some too now. Doesn’t change “frame reach”, but it’ll help, and you might like the bars independent of what they do to the reach with the same stem.

One short and one long crank.

This is genius 🙂
Sorta related, could always fit one of those adjustable BB cups meant for singlespeed tensioning and put it in the forwards position. Not cheap though, and I don’t think you gain much, maybe 5mm.

Tbh I didn’t notice 10mm difference on last bike, I don’t think you will either.

you cant change the frame so you are just pissing about with the ancillaries really. buy a shorter stem to compensate.

also bars can make waaaay more than 10mm differrence

my nukeproof bars and renthals have about an inch difference at the grips when they are upright.

so i`d just get different bars.

I think the consensus is buy the bike 😉

Don’t think there’s anything better than these two

– Raising the stem (I like a high-ish handlebar) with a flatter bar
– Fitting a 10mm longer than stock fork (bike is rated for this and it would suit my needs)

If its a shorter head tube than you are used to, then spacers + flat bar will probably get you back to where you want it. 20mm spacers will roughly correspond to 10mm reach reduction.

If a slackset/reachset is too much hassle, thinner grips 🙂

– Raising the stem (I like a high-ish handlebar) with a flatter bar

If your hands are in the same position relative to the pedals and you haven’t moved the headtube, the reach hasn’t actually changed. To understand how a bike fits a particular rider, the reach should really be measured to the point on the steerer level with the grips. This is because different riders will set their grips at different heights from the pedals so the effective reach will not be identical. You can only reduce the reach by setting the grips higher. Fitting a higher rise stem will reduce the reach if you fit the same bars, but fitting flat bars to lower the grips will cancel that out. You might be able to make a bike fit more comfortably by using a shorter stem or bars with more sweep, but that’s not actually changing the reach of the bike.

20mm of headset spacers shortened the reach of my bike by 8mm (IIRC). Just run lower rise bars to compensate.
A shorter stem will help, but you might find the bars too long on tight twisty trails.

Just run lower rise bars to compensate.

FFS. Putting lower rise bars on will increase the reach. It may effectively shorten the stem, but that’s not the same as reducing reach. If you just want the bars closer to the pedals, a shorter stem and bars with more sweep will do that.

Shorter stem worked fine for me. 50 to a 35

What size stem is on the bike ?, maximum spacers under the stem and PNW bars with 10° backsweep will help if the bikes stem is already short, nukeproofs latest bars despite having 9° backsweep will do the opposite because of the redesign but the older versions will work.
Higher rise bars will only work if your preference is to really roll em back to silly levels.

Higher bars shorten effective reach and push the weight back a bit. Your arms aren’t parallel with the head tube.

I had to do the opposite on my old hemlock. I ended up with +7mm adjust reach headset, longer stem and lower bars as otherwise it felt like I was on a Segway. Jeffsy is slightly too big for me in reality, but it’s easier to make a long bike shorter without making it ride like a barge

I’m not sure something is a bargain if it doesn’t fit or even might not fit

I sold the bike. Resolves all the issues