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Ideal Stem Length?

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Ideal Stem Length?

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flag Fastsvo
Posted: Jul 21, 2025 at 22:01 Quote
I am 5’9”, 140lbs with a medium AF. My steerer tube is cut very short so I had to go to a 50 mm rise bar, which helped on the trails but at the bike park I’m still not comfortable on the bike and have difficulty moving it around and getting the steering fast enough.

My current setup:
2020 AF
40mm specialized stem (0* rise) with single 5mm spacer
35mm clamp TAG 50mm rise alloy bars
Rockshox Ultimate Lyrik
DVO Topaz 1
2.5" Assegai EXO+/ 2.4" DHR EXO II combo

I was getting a lot of hand numbness/pain at the bike park, so something wasn't right. So far, I think my solution is to get a defy 35+ stem and add some spacers, but came across a video on YT that made me stop everything and reconsider this idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCsCDd3gwgQ

@3:40 after I heard this I had a revelation. Maybe this is what I’m going through with my stock 40mm stem? The “not holding lines in turns” is what I am experiencing. My understanding is the medium AF came from the factory with a 50mm stem? Should it be reverted back to this?

Which stem size does everybody run on a Medium sized AF? Is 35MM just too much for most average riders? On the trails, I have been comfortable with my current setup, but once I went to the bike park, I had handling woes and pain in my hands. At the bike park, it does feel the front end cannot bite into the ground and get the party started when approaching a turn or sometimes in mid turns as well.

As for a fit thing, I feel like I could be more in an upright position when on the bike, hence why I want a stem with a short stack and rise to help combat this.
flag lookseasyfromhere
Posted: Jul 22, 2025 at 8:17 Quote
Stems are cheap, fit is personal. Buy one and try it.
flag trailmullet
Posted: Jul 23, 2025 at 13:28 Quote
Hey man, I totally relate to your situation — I’m also around your height and recently went through a similar front-end struggle trying to get my park setup dialed. It’s wild how much of a difference stem length and bar height can make, especially switching between trail and bike park. Curious to hear how your changes work out if you try the Defy stem — I’ve been considering something similar and that YouTube clip really got me thinking too. Let’s figure this one out!
flag Fastsvo
Posted: Jul 28, 2025 at 10:32 Quote
SarahHopeMaeCarter wrote:
Hey man, I totally relate to your situation — I’m also around your height and recently went through a similar front-end struggle trying to get my park setup dialed. It’s wild how much of a difference stem length and bar height can make, especially switching between trail and bike park. Curious to hear how your changes work out if you try the Defy stem — I’ve been considering something similar and that YouTube clip really got me thinking too. Let’s figure this one out!


I'll let you know how it turns out! For now, I haven't yet purchased a stem, but I am between the Deity 50mm and the Defy 35mm (and **maybe** the Funn 42mm stem as well).
flag acedeuce802
Posted: Jul 28, 2025 at 10:44 Quote
There's too much that goes into stem length to base off of what others use 100%, but it'll give you a good starting point and help show the justification that some people will get along better with a 35mm stem, and some better with a 60mm stem.

Does AF mean Ripmo AF? I compared geometry to my GG Smash, the large Ripmo AF is nearly identical to my Size 3 Long GG Smash, so my experience should give some good insight. I'm 5'10.5" with short legs, long torso, and 6'1" arm span, which all of those is why I pushed to a large size instead of a medium. I also never really felt stable on the bike and did some stem trials. I actually settled on a 60mm stem. My theory is that my long arms mean that when I ride a bike that's fit to someone with normal proportions, my long arms push my torso back and my weight is too far rearward. I always found it hard to weight the front tire and get it to bite. The long stem solved that for me. I don't really care about "snappy" steering, I'd rather have a tire that bites. I also never feel sketched out on steep stuff, because my long arms mean that even if I have a long stem, with my arms extended my body is probably in the same position as someone with a short stem and normal arms. Plus a 65deg HTA means that front tire is still pretty far out there, it'd take a lot to go over the bars.
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