1-track-mind

I recently bought a new bike, moving up from a 58" to a 60" to accomodate my long legs but i also have a short torso.
The top tube length also increased from 585 to 605 and the stem length also increased to 120 from my previous bike. I feel like this is stretching me out too far since my arms now need to be completely straight to reach the handlebars, but for all I know, this might be the correct position. If I want to shorten the distance by getting a shoter stem, are there any rules of thumb that I should be aware of ? Thanks.

Retro Grouch 

The rule of thumb is that everything affects everything else. I think that the right way to fit yourself onto a bike is to adjust the seat to fit your legs relative to the pedals and then to adjust the handlebars to fit your hands and torso relative to the seat and your riding style.

Seats are easy to adjust, handlebars are hard to adjust. Most of the fit calculator systems that I've seen are geared to high performance cycling. That might be fine if you are raceing oriented, but maybe not-so-good if your goal is more recreational type riding. My advice is to find an old guy who has a lot of bicycling experience to help you figure out how to fit onto your bike.

1-track-mind

I guess what i'm wondering is this:
Is there any downside to getting a shorter stem to offset the increased top tube length as far as the way the bike handles ?
This might be a dumb question, but i don't know how all these things are inter-related as far as the frame geometry. Here are changes between the 58" and 60";
Top tube-585 to 605
Wheelbase-1004 to 1018
Stem length- 110 to 120

gildelrosan

A shorter stem helps the upper body fit the reach of the handlebars. However, the handling is twitchy but can be compensated by any rider. Its the general confidence that changes but it can be livable.

DaveSSS 

The reach will be 20mm longer on the new bike, only if the seat tube angle is the same. That's why most Brad's now post stack and reach numbers.
A 120mm stem would be long, even for a large frame. Sounds like you bought the wrong size. Unless the previous bike was way too small, you should never buy one with 20mm more reach.

ckindt

Even 15 years later.

philbob57

If your proportions are too far from average, you can't buy the right size off the rack. I have the opposite problem - relatively shorter legs, longer torso. One of the reasons I ride a 1973 English frame is that they used to vary seat tube length without varying top tube length, and it fits me, whereas today's square frame are cramped. I need a Nitto Technomic stem, too.

It looks like OP added 30 mm to his reach. I'd ride it more to see if I got used to it. If I didn't like it after as many miles as I was willing to endure, I'd try on a 90 mm stem. Hell, changing stems now is so much easier than changing quill stems that trying out a 90 mm stem seems like a no-brainer.

tomato coupe

A zombie apocalypse may not be so farfetched after all ...

Gconan

I have to remind myself to look at the original date of a thread before I click on it. Who would resurrect such an ancient thread? For what reason? No good reason no doubt!

GamblerGORD53

Shorter stems causing twitchyness is still a LAUGHABLE old wives tale.

Maelochs

In an effort to keep the undead shufflign around slowly ... I can second that.

I got an old Cannondale tourer back decades ago (it was a new 1983 model, and I got it in as-new condition a couple years later) for about 20 percent of its value. it was a little big but I couldn't turn it down.

I tried a number of stems as short a 60 and 75 mm before I finally got smart and bought a short-reach bar. And the bike was never "twitchy." with a long wheelbase and long chain stays, 'twitch is something it is simply unable to do.

Maybe on certain frames a really short stem might have that effect .... anyway, hats off to the past, and I hope the guy has found an answer to his problems by now.

KiwiAmerican

I've noticed that a 20mm reduction in stem length hasn't hurt my handling/ riding experience much (if at all). I would go any shorter than 100mm stem to ofset, and you will need to adjust saddle slightly, but if you are comfortable while out riding that's what matter most.

JanMM

Reminder that this is a 15-year old discussion. The original poster has not posted on BF in 5 years.
Carry on. 🤡

Phil_gretz

What the heck kind of bike is this?

And why would you go with a larger frame to accommodate your legs but adversely impact your reach? That makes no sense. Can you return the larger frame?

Wilfred Laurier

Hopefully the seller has a 16 year no-hassle return policy.

zjrog

And this is why I picked up 5 different lengths and a couple different angled stems from my local bike collective... I should go get a couple different quill stems for a couple older projects...