Short Stem Road Bike Handling
But it might make it uncomfortable or not.
Short stem road bike handling. A longer toptube and the resulting wheelbase usually equates to a more stable handling bike anyway. The more directly you are over the centre of the front wheel the better. An 80 stem is too short and it s simply wrong that that the 56 will allow you to get more aggressive in the. Find out how a longer or shorter stem affect both you and your bike.
Stem length affects handling. A shorter stem will definitely make your bike cooler. Adjusting the stem length can be used to tailor the. Change your stem to adjust your fit not to change handling characteristics.
While comfort and an effective position trumps all other considerations matt wikstrom takes a closer look at the influence of stem length on the steering and handling of a road bike. If you get aches in your back neck or hands the stem may be too short forcing you to ride in an unnatural position. 9 top tips for setting up your new road bike. Changing the stem length not only impacts your fit and comfort it affects the handling dynamics of a road bike.
The frame is much better able to absorb road shocks with longer tubes and a longer wheelbase plus it will be more stable while reduced fork rake and a shorter stem will keep the handling sharp. Short stems allow you to steer with smaller more precise. But mountain bikers change stem length depending on the handling. I would much rather ride a bike with geometry and fit that complement a 50mm stem than create the correct reach through fitting a larger unit.
For a road bike with drop bars my experience is that 80mm or so is about the shortest stem you want to use. Going to a stem that short is going to have lot s of odd effects on the handling of the bike. It has far less effect. I am running a 50cm stem on my road bike just cant reach like i used too.
When road cyclists think about stem length we tend to only take into account the effect it has on our position on the bike. A shorter stem will result in snappier steering a longer stem will produce slower steering. Stem length orientation and height have an effect on bike handling comfort and aerodynamics.