I have a Crossracer which I use mostly on the road and on my rollers - with slicks.
Getting older I somehow feel quite stretched on the bike and not comfortable in sitting over ling time. I have pushed my saddle forward as much as possible and also lowered it over the time.
Now I am thinking about changing the stem and shorten it from 110mm to 90mm.
Is that too short for such a cross/roadbike? Any thoughts in this?
Btw: my frame size is alright, and no plans to change my frame. So any thoughts on the stem would help. Thanks!
Shortening the stem might affect bike handling, but if you’re no longer comfortable on the bike, maybe just try it? Stems can be cheap. You could also look for a stem that is tilted upwards more than your current stem.
Shorter stems lead to snappier handling. Can be good, can be dangerous. There was a notable improvement in smoothness for me going from a 100-110 so I assume going 10mm the other way would do the opposite.
True story, I tried a friend’s bike out which had a 90mm but 40* or so rise stem effectively making it something like a 70mm and first time I got out of the saddle to try and sprint I almost ate the bars cause every minor input steering wise had a drastic output.
Also probably depends on the frame size and your overall fit, I’d say going from a 110 to a 90 would feel much different from someone riding a 52cm vs a 62cm frame