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Higher Stem Or Bars


trialsiain

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I've been using a Because 150x30° stem for quite a while with 4 x Echo headset spacers and Echo riser bars on my 24-inch Echo, just to see the effect of very high bars. Yesterday I installed a 125x25° stem with just one headset spacer, same bars, and went for a ride. A bit scary with about 4cm of extra steerer tube sticking out above the stem--felt like riding with a knife attached to the stem.

Anyway, here are my observations. The high set-up makes it really easy to bunnyhop and trackstands are very comfortable and stable because you don't need to be all hunched up. However yesterday when I tried the lower set-up it was a revelation on the back wheel. Hopping on the back wheel suddenly became less tiring because the whole bike was much closer to my body, which means you don't need to lean back so much to balance on the back wheel. A side effect of this is that the rear brake is less likely to slip and if it does and you start falling back you have more time to react and hopefully land on your feet. It also made hopping up stairs forward (rather than side-ways or at an angle) a lot easier. Gapping distances also improved significantly and felt more accurate.

So if you are doing a lot of stuff on the rear wheel I definitely recommend a shorter and lower stem. A good all rounder for a 24 inch bike would be a 150x30° stem without any spacers, which is what I am using now.

Riser vs flat bars makes no difference to me in terms of feel, in fact you can achieve the same set-up with either using the right combination of stem-bars-spacers. However, riser bars provide better chest clearance so it's harder to hit your chest on the handlebar clamp, which is the reason why I prefer riser bars.

Edited by Scoox
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I am using a rockman 150x30 with 10mm of spacers on my echo 24" and it feels great for most things.

When i first got the echo i was using a tatybikes 165x35 without spacers. I am 5ft 11 and It felt like i was streching for the bars to much, so i gave the 150x30 a try with 10mm of spacers to acheive almost the same height but less reach and my riding improved rapidly.

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