Now that you guys have had some time to marinate on the mountain bike stem length question, I thought I would throw the answers on the board to see what the overall results were. While some of you may have thought that this was a question with too many variables, I did have an underlying goal with this poll that I will explain after we get to the results. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the results and very happy with the way this turned out. Ok…enough of my rambling…how did the mountain bike stem length poll turn out?
Poll Results: MTB Stem Length – What is yours?
You guys were asked two simple questions…what is your stem length and did it come on your current mountain bike? So here is how it all panned out…
According to the results, the vast majority of you are using 90 – 100 mm mountain bike stems with 70 mm stems bringing up a close 3rd place.
Surprisingly (a in a good way), most of you (66% of voters), are experimenting with stem length and dropping the one that came with your current mountain bike in favor of a stem that better fits your needs (or built up the bike yourself and chose the stem length for your build).
What do I think about the results?
First, why did I ask these questions? I have been riding a long time and I like to watch trends over time as riding styles and mountain bike technology change. If you would have asked these same questions in the 1990’s (or even early 2000’s), the results would have been drastically different. Instead of the median length around 90 mm, we would have found that most riders were using a mountain bike stem around the 110 mm to 120 mm length range. As mountain bikes have gained more travel and slacker angles, the need for a super long stem (by today’s standards) has drastically diminished in favor of shorter stems that are easier to control. Add to this…the trails have changed to include faster, more technical downhills that bikes of today can tackle easily. With faster, more technical downhills, you need a stem length that is easier to control. Stems that are in the 90mm range provide enough climbing stability on today’s mountain bikes but also give mountain bikers a more stable platform to enjoy the downhills with more speed.
Back in the 1990’s, I was running the 130 mm, bright ass canary yellow, Control Tech stem you see pictured here. Can you even imagine running this stem on a mountain bike that has been produced in the last couple of years? It would feel terrible!
The second question I asked in this little experiment was to see how many of you are tweaking your mountain bikes to fit your riding style and fit needs. Thankfully, I can see that a lot of your are choosing the right place to start as you continually try to tweak your mountain bike for better trailability. Your stem on your mountain bike is one of the areas that you can really dial in your ride to fit both your height/proportions and how your bike handles on your trails. Luckily, it is also one of the cheaper options that has the most drastic affect on your riding. Some of you may have bought a bike that came with the length you need…and that is great. Most of the time, you will find that you need to change out the stem length to really get things dialed in and experimenting is really the only way to accomplish this.
Where these the results you were expecting?