STEMS

eMTB and MTB Stem Setup

Stem length plays an important part in your bikes performance and comfort. Let’s go thorough some of the concepts and why getting the right stem is so critical to your overall bike setup.

Ideally, your stem’s length will dictate where your hands end up. Seems kind of obvious ya? But how the stem and bars interact may surprise you.

Handlebars work best when the angle from the center of the clamping area through the rise is kept parallel or within a couple degrees of your headtube / fork angle. You don’t want to use handlebar “roll” to accommodate your hands forward or back.

This image illustrates how rolling a handlebar “back” tends to slow the handling while rolling it “forward” makes for nervous handling. There is a small range of upsweep and backsweep designed into the handlebars – using handlebar roll for fit quickly modifies these outside of their design ranges.

Bar Height and Stem Spacers are used for vertical cockpit setup while Stem Length are used for fore and aft adjustments.

How important is this to your bike’s performance? Pretty critical actually.

I would prefer to ride a bike say 20mm too long or short rather than modifying the handlebar angle outside of the preferred setup range.

We offer a variety of stems from leading manufacturers like Industry Nine, RaceFace, Renthal, ENVE and Tag Metals. These stems have unique design features and are available in a usable range of modern stem lengths for trail / enduro / big mountain riding, typically 30-50mm.

Questions on the right stem for your bike’s size, your height, and flexibility?
Chat with our expert staff to dial in the best stem fit for your riding.