I watched a video recently about how a downhill mountain bike racer invented what he calls a “raised reversed stem,” made of aluminum, that is supposedly helping him win a bunch of races.
I watched Seth’s video and I think I was just as surprised as he was. Since I don’t consider myself an enduro rider, I probably wouldn’t put this on my bike. What I absolutely love about it is “out of the box” thinking. Will this be one of those products that changes the trajectory of mountain biking forever, or just a fad? Stay tuned
You’re right, RR stem looks awful, but that’s because bikes normally do not look like that. The forward stem does two things: it balances more of the rider’s weight over the front wheel so you get somewhat closer to a 50-50 weight-over-wheels distribution. It also places the h-bar forward of the steerer tube to deactivate the torque radius for a more predictable course of steering. Stem lengths are shorter on MTBs and GBs for more responsive turning and bike handling, while stems are longer on roadbikes where turning is done by leaning. The RR stem, the video showed, would increase handling going downhill but would offset the wheel weight distribution for climbing, especially since the h-bar is raised. Having not tried the RR stem, my gut feel says that a short forward stem is OK for descents and better for climbs.
During my last couple of rides I tried to imagine a raised h-bar in the vicinity of my headset. I didn’t like it at all, it was cramping my cockpit space, the area between the saddle and my grips. This is a comfortable stretch place that spreads my body over the bike. I almost felt like a RR stem would chuck the h-bar nearly into my lap. I’d insist on a longer bike to be able to do that.
I watched Seth’s video and I think I was just as surprised as he was. Since I don’t consider myself an enduro rider, I probably wouldn’t put this on my bike. What I absolutely love about it is “out of the box” thinking. Will this be one of those products that changes the trajectory of mountain biking forever, or just a fad? Stay tuned
You’re right, RR stem looks awful, but that’s because bikes normally do not look like that. The forward stem does two things: it balances more of the rider’s weight over the front wheel so you get somewhat closer to a 50-50 weight-over-wheels distribution. It also places the h-bar forward of the steerer tube to deactivate the torque radius for a more predictable course of steering. Stem lengths are shorter on MTBs and GBs for more responsive turning and bike handling, while stems are longer on roadbikes where turning is done by leaning. The RR stem, the video showed, would increase handling going downhill but would offset the wheel weight distribution for climbing, especially since the h-bar is raised. Having not tried the RR stem, my gut feel says that a short forward stem is OK for descents and better for climbs.
During my last couple of rides I tried to imagine a raised h-bar in the vicinity of my headset. I didn’t like it at all, it was cramping my cockpit space, the area between the saddle and my grips. This is a comfortable stretch place that spreads my body over the bike. I almost felt like a RR stem would chuck the h-bar nearly into my lap. I’d insist on a longer bike to be able to do that.