Stem Length - How long is Yours?

[Carbon_Angus]

CA,

[smiley=disbelief.gif]It probably was the stem.  Check out the "paper" I wrote back in Nov. '01:



http://idriders.com/proflex/files/crosslink_travel.doc



Even for the '97 Crosslinks (which had the most "J" path offset) the horizontal difference between the travel path and a "theoretical" telescopic straight line is only 3-4mm.  All other Crosslinks are on the order of 1-2mm horizontal difference.  That's not going to be enough to make you go "superman".



Because of the action of the linkage, there is a perception that the front wheel is being "folded under".  However, if you trace the axle path, it is virtually identical to a straight telescopic (especially at longer travels) with just a small horizontal offset at short travel (which can actually help reduce "bobbing")



The fact that the fork legs are in front of the axle has no effect on the handling since the location of the axle with respect to the headtube is not different.  The head tube angle and fork trail (the horizontal distance between a line extended from the head tube to the ground and the contact point of the wheel on the ground) is unchanged.

thanks, Tom.  come to think of it i did have a shorter stem with the xlink when it was rebuilt as a SS.  it did handle better, faster, IMO. i am getting too old and i forget. i agree the j-path is perception more than reality...but  i've never ridden a newer xlink though so can't compare the two if the difference can be felt.  :-/ glad you crunched the numbers, though.  i'd still have a headache even if i tried to do that!

[kiwi]

Well iam going against the tide here i can see that.My ol 20 inch 756 (way big in todays lingo had a 150mm yes thats right a 150 mm stem.The extra 15 mm in the stemm and 15 in the tt gives a 1inch extral length in the cockpit over a large.....I have just swapped back to a 135 with my "new"crosslink" both are prolly 5 deg rise with flat xc bars

[khuon]

I'm currently running a 100mm, +5 deg rise Race Face SYStem on my OzM (med) with the stock Easton CT2 flatbars and 1999 Crosslink.  I found the 120mm, no-rise stock stem to be a little much.  Dropping back to 100mm and upping the rise definately improves my handling for some of the twistier/tighter singletrack around here while not sacrificing much of my race position (not that I race) and climbing.

[Oz-SUB]

Well I started this one, so perhaps I should finish!

I've got used to the 90mm 10o stem now, and have found out some interesting things.

Stem length is more critical than we all think!

Yes, at first I found the tendancy of the front wheel to lift and go off wildly in all directions on short steep climbs very disconcerting.  I've now got used to moving further forward for these climbs to counteract wheel lift off!

When negotiating steep trecherous downhill sections, I can get my rear further aft over the saddle, and with the disc brakes, the control is awesome.

I find the fork bobs less when climbing, I guess this is because there is a shorter lever with a shorter stem.

Finally, I'm in a more upright riding style, which is more comfortable than being stretched out too far.  With age comes less suppleness!

I'd be interested to go back out 10mm to a 100mm just to see if I need that tuning.

Oz-SUB