Stem length and handling

Bob said:

I use an 8cm stem on my road bike, the top tube is a bit long for my reach. I was wondering if I
would see any handling or other changes if I had a bike with a shorter top tube, and I used a
10cm stem.

You would have a slightly shorter wheelbase, all other things being equal. In practice the new frame
may have different angles so it would be hard to test this independently.

FWIW I went from an 8cm to an 11cm stem on the same frame and didn't notice any handling difference
at all. The bike fitted me better though :-)

Bob said:

I use an 8cm stem on my road bike, the top tube is a bit long for my reach. I was wondering if I
would see any handling or other changes if I had a bike with a shorter top tube, and I used a
10cm stem.

Yes, you would notice a slight difference.

It might take several miles to get used to the difference.

Sheldon "Accommodation" Brown +----------------------------------------------------------+
| I have to mention how wary I am whenever I read bike | reviews which talk about how great some
| bike handled | the instant the rider mounted up. | If the bike immediately feels right, it's most
| likely | because it handles very similarly to whatever the | rider most recently rode. | I have
| bikes that I have ridden thousands of miles, | that handle and perform flawlessly. Yet if I've
| been | riding something different, like the tandem (especially | captaining) or my commuter with
| a heavy saddle bag or | pannier and then hop back on my sporty single, I spend | the first mile
| or so hardly able to get out of the | saddle. I'm all over the road. I would swear the bike | has
| been chopped in half. But within a short time, | everything is back to normal, and my trusty old
| bike | is handling great again. --Pamela Blalock |
+----------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

FWIW, I went from a 11cm to a 10cm (on the same frame) and could tell the difference.

A longer stem requires more steering input for the same steering angle result, all else being equal.
If your current bike feels quick handling, the longer stem should make it a little less so. If your
current bike already feels like a truck, a longer stem should make it feel even more so. However, as
Zog points out, a new frame means all else is not equal.

MOO, Matt

Zog The Undeniable said:

Bob said:

I use an 8cm stem on my road bike, the top tube is a bit long for my reach. I was wondering if I
would see any handling or other changes if I had a bike with a shorter top tube, and I used a
10cm stem.

You would have a slightly shorter wheelbase, all other things being equal. In practice the new
frame may have different angles so it would be hard to test this independently.

FWIW I went from an 8cm to an 11cm stem on the same frame and didn't notice any handling
difference at all. The bike fitted me better though :-)