how short a stem is too short?

[lph]

I need to bring my bars closer, and it feels like 4-5 cm would be perfect. But I only have an 80 mm stem right now. How short a stem can I get without handling going all wacky? I guess 60 mm would be fine, but any shorter?

I have an itsy-bitsy tiny stem lying aroudn I should try, but I'm kind of scared of it... When I put it on my mtb last year I crashed spectacularly after clearing a small jump I've done hundreds of times, and I'm pretty sure it's because the ultra-short stem messed up my steering.

OTOH road bike handlebars already have a built in "stem" compared to flat bars, unless you ride with your hands on the top of the bars which I rarely do, so it might be just fine.

[madscot13]

which bike was this?

[lph]

I need to bring the handlebars closer on my road bike. My neck aches and I feel a bit too stretched out. I compensate by keeping my hands closer whenever I can, but then I can't keep my hands on the brakes.

[uforgot]

I just tried a stem that was 2cm shorter last night. I thought I wanted the bars closer, but I knew within minutes that it was too short. I kept scooting back on my seat. Perhaps you could switch it out, and take a short ride? Kind of a pain if you have a threaded quill stem, but in the long run, at least you will know! I have an unthreaded one so it only took minutes.

[madscot13]

lph, I'm thinking of doing the same thing. my stem is 90 mm right now and I was wondering if I should do 70 and a short reach handlebar or if that would be too much and 80 mm would be better...

[Andrea]

I used to ride with a 70mm on my first bike. I didn't have a problem with handling, although I did have to pay attention to what I was doing a little more because the steering was very "responsive" to twitches and whatnot

[Ana]

I had to have my stem shortened to make my fit better but my LBS said as a guideline, you should stay within 20mm of whatever your stock was... I switched from 85 to a 65 They also said that the handling might get a little more twitchy as the stem gets shorter, and cautioned me about the handling at higher speeds. I don't go that fast or far (no more than 18 mph or 30 miles) so I'm not too concerned. If I build up my strength, I might have to change my stem again or something but we'll see.

I haven't taken my bike out since the change so I've only been on the trainer but I'm so happy about my fit that I haven't really given it any thought

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My original bike came with a 9mm stem. Reach way too long. I changed it for a 5mm and rode that for months. That helped the reach, but my steering was noticably wobbly, especially when climbing hills. I was correcting my front wheel like all the time, which was extremely annoying and somewhat unsafe when climbing narrow hills in traffic.
So I changed again for a 7mm, and that seemed to be a good compromise.
Lots of people will say a 7 is too short. It 'is' too short, but it's a good place between too-long and too-short for me. The steering is no longer wobbly, and the reach is better than the old 9mm.

[HillSlugger]

My race bike has a 60cm stem with a 30 degree rise that effectively makes it even shorter. I don't have any problem with the handling on this bike, but it's the only stem I've used on it.

[madscot13]

we should set up recycling system for stems that don't seem to fit because everyone seems to switch them at least twice. it would be like the way Brook saddles seem to fly around the forum. imagine it, for the cost of shipping and some small price we could try out stems until we found one we liked instead of paying $40 each time. Even if it wasn't the prettiest stem we could replace it with one that was nicer and sent that one on its merry way.

think I'll have a 90mm quill stem finding a new home in a few months, just got to find the right size...

[HillSlugger]

I have a 100mm stem I can send out. Not sure of the angle off hand.

[lph]

a stem recycling program is a good idea

To answer my own question: so far it seems I'm fine with a really short stem. I put on the itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny one (it SAYS 60 mm on it but is also sharply angled so it looks and acts even shorter) and tried it out on a long (75 miles) ride yesterday. It didn't seem to make handling too wobbly, and did make it easier to reach stuff. My neck still started aching after a while, but since I started looking for a new saddle I've become acutely aware of what's wrong with the one I've got, and spent a large part of the ride obsessing about that instead...

So I've got to get a new saddle before I start fussing around more with the bars, to make sure I know where I'm going to be sitting.

[HillSlugger]

a stem recycling program is a good idea

To answer my own question: so far it seems I'm fine with a really short stem. I put on the itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny one (it SAYS 60 mm on it but is also sharply angled so it looks and acts even shorter) and tried it out on a long (75 miles) ride yesterday. It didn't seem to make handling too wobbly, and did make it easier to reach stuff. My neck still started aching after a while, but since I started looking for a new saddle I've become acutely aware of what's wrong with the one I've got, and spent a large part of the ride obsessing about that instead...

So I've got to get a new saddle before I start fussing around more with the bars, to make sure I know where I'm going to be sitting.

Sounds like my stem, 60mm and 30 degrees. The angle makes it act like it's another 5mm shorter.

Glad that you are making advances in your biking comfort. Try not to change too much at once.

[Grog]

So I've got to get a new saddle before I start fussing around more with the bars, to make sure I know where I'm going to be sitting.

If you were to decide to change the bars, check out the FSA Compact Wing Pro. They actually bring the reach back quite a bit without a shorter saddle, and I found that the real estate lost on the handlebars was not a problem... I think the Salsa Poco (or some other Salsa bar) is the same...

This can be messy though - have you sought some help from a good bike shop? I find that having a person look at me from the side often helps...

[Ana]

I researched stems for a while too, since my reach was way to far. I found one site that said if you need too short of a stem, perhaps your bike is mis-sized and you should have a shorter top tube