Slammed my MTB stem tonight

[zambenini]

This is a cross post from across the hall but I wanna know what Paceline thinks, too.

Wowza. Finally did what I've been meaning to do for like a year and slammed the stem on my Cielo. I don't know why I had spacers under the stem so long, except when I ordered the bike I was between size L and XL and so I left a little under and over the stem when I cut the fork and had the stem positioned right in the middle. Dropped it 10ish mm tonight and hit the trails for an hour in the dark. ZOMG.

I can't totally isolate the variable because a) I had a new, larger brake rotor on the front today (180mm cf. prior 160mm); b) bike and rider were 37% more handsome with a slammed stem; c) it was my first true night ride of the season, night as in pitch dark ... that's important because night rides always feel faster, though I know from Strava I was actually going slower on this trail than when I ride it in daylight. Anyway...

Here's what I experienced:

-it felt like "wheel flop" was gone or greatly reduced ...
-entering and exiting climbs was very sprightly. I ride SS and must stand and pedaldammit a lot... every time I would jump out of the saddle it felt like the front end of the bike was already cooperating with what my hips and feet were doing, with no lag.
-steering felt way more precise, no "oh, $hit" moments when lines ran close to the pine straw at trail's edge.
-cornering confidence ... with a shorter fulcrum between tire contact patch and handlebars, I felt less likely to find the tires' edges at the apex of turns or when rocking the bike when pedaling out of the saddle.

All in all it felt like I was much closer to the front wheel and had better control of the bike.

Two negatives: a) I haven't gone over the bars but once since I got on a 29er and I will have my hackles raised for that... b) being a little farther forward the angle of my butt to drop the dropper post was new and so my previous butt-drop muscle memory didn't work as well.

Does that all sound right? Is that what lowering the stem does to handling or not?

What am I smoking?

Cheerios,
JZ

[Ken Robb]

I'm not very hip but I didn't know that a Cielo was a Mtn. Bike.

[zambenini]

They're real and they're spectacular.

And slammed is relative, still 2mm spacer under that stem.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181129/a56d57ce79cf778397357793268cee73.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181129/9bf42b8285b87ce4308ee738d93d80a0.jpg

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[Mikej]

I’d call that putting it to normal, slammed starts at at least-17 😀

[93KgBike]

How wide is that handlebar?

[Ken Robb]

Is Cielo a brand? I thought it was a ti road model maybe from Merlin?

[kingpin75s]

I would say lowering a bit up front lowers your CG just a touch and puts a little more weight on the front wheel. That is a plus for carving lines at perhaps the small expense of making manuals a little more effort.

For bikes that I ride chunky trails where I am constantly popping my front end up, I tend to keep my saddle to bar drop very limited. For bikes where I am looking to flow and carve more, I run a lower front end.

Just my experience.

[Gummee]

The front ends on 29ers are so much taller than the old 26ers I started riding on so I always end up slammed and sometimes with a -20deg stem!

My body likes to be in the same place across all my bikes, so I end up slammed and then some lots of times.

M

[chiasticon]

Is Cielo a brand? I thought it was a ti road model maybe from Merlin?Cielo was underneath the Chris King umbrella. made some very nice road, cross and mtb frames. they stopped a couple years ago. I believe Jay Sycip was the person doing the building there. very nice stuff and OP's bike looks great! :banana:

[cmg]

don't clip the steerer until after a couple of more rides. on most of my rides there's a least 1 1/2 cm of spacers above the stem. In case differing terrain requires a new setup.

[zambenini]

don't clip the steerer until after a couple of more rides. on most of my rides there's a least 1 1/2 cm of spacers above the stem. In case differing terrain requires a new setup.That's why I had so many in the first place. I don't see going back except maybe when I am near Pisgah, but I ride the tamer trails out there anyway (Bent Creek, DuPont, etc.). I will leave a few.

I think I will try a 90mm -10 instead of the 100mm 0 rise that's on there and take that last 2mm out. Very jazzed about the new feel. Across the hall I am pretty sure Mickey said if you don't have some weight on the front wheel you're just along for the ride. I don't know if this is what he had in mind but so far I am stoked.

I don't know how wide the bars are maybe 680? 700? They have been cut a little. They were on Doomridesout's bike (an earlier Cielo iirc) before mine. Trees are tight enough on a few trails I regularly ride that I won't go gonzo wide for the time being.

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[Gummee]

don't clip the steerer until after a couple of more rides. on most of my rides there's a least 1 1/2 cm of spacers above the stem. In case differing terrain requires a new setup.

In my case, I don't chop the steerer because I know all my bikes are going to move on at some point. Some sooner than others, but they all move on.

I don't want to limit to whom I can sell a bike with a slammed and cut steerer because the next guy might not be built like a gorilla like I seem to be.

M

[zambenini]

In my case, I don't chop the steerer because I know all my bikes are going to move on at some point. Some sooner than others, but they all move on.

I don't want to limit to whom I can sell a bike with a slammed and cut steerer because the next guy might not be built like a gorilla like I seem to be.

MWisdom. We all say this but I plan to keep this one a long time. Whatever I replaced it with would have only minor differences.

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