Velocipedestrian wrote:Conners wrote:Think I'm going to have to start a separate thread on short stems and wide bars now too rather than continuing to hijack this one.
Those are both good things, but in moderation.
Start the thread.
My current setup is 640mm bars and 90mm stem. Consensus around the intertubes seems to be that 720mm bars and 50mm stem are somewhat a "minimum acceptable standard" these days. So thinking that would be a good start point if I was to borrow some bits to try.
I guess what I'm really wondering is, is it worthwhile or is there a chance of just totally killing the geometry (ie reach just gets silly short).
Current geo (that I see as part of this equation) is:
Head tube angle - 69 degrees (going -1 on the Angleset)
Effective TT - 600mm
Seat tube angle - 72 degrees (actual rather than effective)
Wheelbase - 1135mm
Photo of current setup (deemed "unrideable" by another vorber

In terms of me, I'm a bit over 6'2" (190cm) and my wingspan is the same. 520mm if I measure across my shoulders.
Interested to hear any theories on:
1. How to calculate the best bar length vs your shoulder width (if this is even a thing)
2. Optimum stem length reduction compared to bar length increase (in an engineer so of course I've done the trig on this and have calculated what combo is required to maintain the same reach - but I think there is more to it that that)
3. What is considered 'good wide' and what is 'silly wide' in terms of fitting between trees (based in Welly).
4. I notice the trend towards flatter and flatter bars - but I figure this must be to do with forks and front ends getting taller. As you can see I've already got a couple of spacers under my stem - and raising the stem further for a flat bar seems like a dick move to me. I know lower front ends are good for weight distribution - but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be if I went any lower with my bars (note current seat height...).
I'm not doing any/many big XC rides or races any more, riding much more for fun than XC speed like I used to - so happy to compromise uphill geo if the improvement on the downs is there.
Discuss.