At some level at either end of the stem length spectrum there is going to be a compromise but I think most humans are pretty adaptable and every bike I've ridden has had some usable range of stem lengths where performance doesn't seem to be compromised.
In my own case on quite a few bikes I've gone 1cm longer in the stems I'm running over the past year because I've dropped from running 800mm bars to 780mm bars. I'm currently riding bikes with stems from 35mm to 60mm with 780mm bars depending on the bike I'm riding. Most of those bikes get ridden on the same trails.
Even with that taken into account the bikes all have fairly different saddle nose to bar clamp reach lengths. I play with stem length and bar height on any bike to find what works for me on that bike and often the numbers will be quite different from one bike to another.
For example depending on the BB height of a bike the handlebar height relative to the BB height will vary quite a bit which changes center of gravity to the point that I may end up raising the bar. Which then changes how I'm weighting the front tire - every bike is a system.
Anyways, I hope that is helpful in addressing your point. It's an aside from a piece on Min-Max but I appreciate your comment as it is not something I've seen tackled either - possible because it would be hard to tackle concisely especially in a way that could be universally appreciated with a number of bikes. One of those conversations-over-a-beer that may not translate well to an article.
Sept. 1, 2017, 12:38 p.m. - Andrew Major
At some level at either end of the stem length spectrum there is going to be a compromise but I think most humans are pretty adaptable and every bike I've ridden has had some usable range of stem lengths where performance doesn't seem to be compromised. In my own case on quite a few bikes I've gone 1cm longer in the stems I'm running over the past year because I've dropped from running 800mm bars to 780mm bars. I'm currently riding bikes with stems from 35mm to 60mm with 780mm bars depending on the bike I'm riding. Most of those bikes get ridden on the same trails. Even with that taken into account the bikes all have fairly different saddle nose to bar clamp reach lengths. I play with stem length and bar height on any bike to find what works for me on that bike and often the numbers will be quite different from one bike to another. For example depending on the BB height of a bike the handlebar height relative to the BB height will vary quite a bit which changes center of gravity to the point that I may end up raising the bar. Which then changes how I'm weighting the front tire - every bike is a system. Anyways, I hope that is helpful in addressing your point. It's an aside from a piece on Min-Max but I appreciate your comment as it is not something I've seen tackled either - possible because it would be hard to tackle concisely especially in a way that could be universally appreciated with a number of bikes. One of those conversations-over-a-beer that may not translate well to an article.