Weird Reversed Stem Geo / Chat

Rob Rides EMTB

Rob Rides EMTB

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Ok, this setup is really insanely good and bat shit crazy.

I’d ride any track on this, it’s ridiculous capable with this reversed rise setup. I’ve got 146mm of rise all in.

I’m not sure what to make of it because it’s just so capable - my local DH techy tracks turned into a cheat code with this setup.

Even flat corners work because I can push the bike to extreme lean angles.

Looks so wacky, because we are not used to it.

I got the idea from Reece’s video:


With the fox 40, I put the bike back into the neutral headset position (was running -5) and the 52mm offset increases the front centre by a further 8mm. So about 13mm longer out the front than before, but now 18mm stem inverted and mahoosive 80mm bars from my moto.

IMG_2740.webp
 
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That’s wicked! PS. It was obvious from your previous photo that it’s the new 40 with “dirt windows” 😅
 

With the fox 40, I put the bike back into the neutral headset position (was running -5) and the 52mm offset increases the front centre by a further 8mm. So about 13mm longer out the front than before, but now 18mm stem inverted and mahoosive 80mm bars from my moto.

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I have been thinking about this recently, but it seems as if the bars would be back way too far. I like to run the rise of my bars, inline with the angle of my forks. I dont think I could do so with this stem. I would have to roll them forward significantly. I normally run 50mm rise, but maybe a shorter rise would be better. Idk, I guess it takes a bit of experimenting.
 
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FrogSkunk said:

With the fox 40, I put the bike back into the neutral headset position (was running -5) and the 52mm offset increases the front centre by a further 8mm. So about 13mm longer out the front than before, but now 18mm stem inverted and mahoosive 80mm bars from my moto.

View attachment 178644
Click to expand...
I have been thinking about this recently, but it seems as if the bars would be back way too far. I like to run the rise of my bars, inline with the angle of my forks. I dont think I could do so with this stem. I would have to roll them forward significantly. I normally run 50mm rise, but maybe a shorter rise would be better. Idk, I guess it takes a bit of experimenting.
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Yes, it will feel totally alien at first. I’m not even sure if mine is optimal, it just feels so much better than stock after a couple of rides.

Like I don’t even know if it’s worth going back (other than looks I haven’t yet found any downsides!) 🙈
 
Rob Rides EMTB said:
Yes, it will feel totally alien at first. I’m not even sure if mine is optimal, it just feels so much better than stock after a couple of rides.

Like I don’t even know if it’s worth going back (other than looks I haven’t yet found any downsides!) 🙈
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I would be curious to if it makes a difference in terms of lap times. From experience I know sometimes things feel better or faster and don't always turn out that way.
 
Michaelll said:
I would be curious to if it makes a difference in terms of lap times. From experience I know sometimes things feel better or faster and don't always turn out that way.
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First ride yesterday (only a short one to test it out). Got a 4th and I’ve ridden that trail 65 times. Would have been faster if it wasn’t for that the mud at the top.

IMG_2726.webp
 
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Michaelll said:
Comments do say maybe he had issues because he hadn't set the sag correctly/softened the fork and pumped the shock up...
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I went down 5psi on the fork and sped up rebound. Not huge, but on the 40 more than noticeable. Additionally, I am running about -8mm negative stem, the stock BeMore Bike Stem is -15mm.

I think the reason that I'm noticing more of a difference (better) than how I was running it vs "standard" is because I put the Fox 40 on at the same time - And by doing so I added +13mm to the front centre (combination the increased +8mm offset on the Fox 40 fork, and the reach adjust headset being removed, and it going back to neutral position) - so I actually gained 5mm "measured" reach.

net result, way more front wheel out the front, but massively higher stack, and ridiculously increased arm leverage over everything.
 
I can see that this is not just for big travel DH bikes. Is there a cheaper and simpler way to get a similar effect without having to buy one of those reverse stems. Maybe a combo of widely available stem and riser bar?
 
steve_sordy said:
I can see that this is not just for big travel DH bikes. Is there a cheaper and simpler way to get a similar effect without having to buy one of those reverse stems. Maybe a combo of widely available stem and riser bar?
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Possibly, but I'd add caution and say that most products are not designed for this and could have very negative consequences.

That disclaimer out the way, yes, for sure, there will be a ton of options - but you'd need to explore and hack some stuff together. I think if this concept is widely proven that it could be quite a pivotal moment for bike design and geometry.

One massive thing for me (discounting the DH benefits) is just how darn comfortable it is for seated pedaling / climbing.

That being said, there's a lot of folks online who have tried it and cant get it to work for them. So it's not something that seems to be a magic wand that will work on every bike.

I prefer long chainstays, big travel bikes, and am tall, so perhaps my combo of needs / body shape just works very well with something like this.
 
Rob Rides EMTB said:
Possibly, but I'd add caution and say that most products are not designed for this and could have very negative consequences.

That disclaimer out the way, yes, for sure, there will be a ton of options - but you'd need to explore and hack some stuff together. I think if this concept is widely proven that it could be quite a pivotal moment for bike design and geometry.

One massive thing for me (discounting the DH benefits) is just how darn comfortable it is for seated pedaling / climbing.

That being said, there's a lot of folks online who have tried it and cant get it to work for them. So it's not something that seems to be a magic wand that will work on every bike.

I prefer long chainstays, big travel bikes, and am tall, so perhaps my combo of needs / body shape just works very well with something like this.
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I was already thinking of going with a 50mm higher rise bar to relieve neck pain. It is not an original idea of mine, others on here have already done it and love it. It wouldn't take much to add to this; an angled stem on backwards for example.
 
Have Rockshox Lyrik D1 with an uncut steerer and Vorsprung Smashpot, 38mm rise bars (PNW Loam carbon), Spank Split 38mm stem, TTX22m.2. Looks weird but works for me.
20260224_113137.webp
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
@Rob Rides EMTB Does it not reduce your reach fairly significantly?
How do you combat that?
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Yes. Reach is significantly reduced. But, the distance from feet to hands on the bars, (span or RAD?) is likely similar. I’ve not done the calcs.

Effective reach is probably ~58mm shorter. But stack is a lot higher now.
 
The question is, does it work because of the stack, or is it a steering axis vs hand position thing ?

I'm all about that high stack life, running 30mm of spacer, 10mm of stem lift, and 50mm bars on my dreadnought v2 (471mm reach). I'm 6'. It works mainly because of the f/r ratio of 1.8.
I've tried something similar on my crafty, and it didn't work as well. Perhaps because it has a f/r ratio of 1.84, or perhaps because it is large for me at a 495mm reach 🤷‍♂️.
 
I picked one up to try. My bike (gen 4 levo) is on the low side of chain stays he recommends in the long position, but I figure worst case scenario I'll run it backwards and get a lot of rise, which I know I like.
 
ntm95 said:
...
I've tried something similar on my crafty, and it didn't work as well. Perhaps because it has a f/r ratio of 1.84, or perhaps because it is large for me at a 495mm reach 🤷‍♂️.
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495mm certainly IS a lot of reach for 6'!
 
Me and the boy spend a lot of rides with Hattie Harnden, but she's been away at team camps for 4 weekends now so we've not seen her since moving to the new setup. I think we're out on the 18th at the BPW Not a Race with her, so will pick her brains then.
I must admit i'm curious but only in the context of speed directly... If it's faster, we'd use it... if not, it's bugger all use.

Any chance of borrowing/fitting the setup on our Boxxers for a few days Rob ?
 
Weeksy said:
Me and the boy spend a lot of rides with Hattie Harnden, but she's been away at team camps for 4 weekends now so we've not seen her since moving to the new setup. I think we're out on the 18th at the BPW Not a Race with her, so will pick her brains then.
I must admit i'm curious but only in the context of speed directly... If it's faster, we'd use it... if not, it's bugger all use.

Any chance of borrowing/fitting the setup on our Boxxers for a few days Rob ?
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Yes sure you can borrow it let me know when. Maybe I can head up to BPW on that day.

Looks like Hattie is rocking the same setup also.


IMG_2745.webp
 
Rob Rides EMTB said:
will find out today, going for a ride and will see how much piss taking ensues!

Reminds me of a naked street bike versus a sportsbike

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interesting! one of the videos posted here i saw it was on a dreadnaught, would it be even higher on the druid ecores with the high stack? i got my ecore today and own the normal druid and still found the stack height tall.
 
Rob Rides EMTB said:
Yes sure you can borrow it let me know when. Maybe I can head up to BPW on that day.

Looks like Hattie is rocking the same setup also.


View attachment 178737
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the park is closed to public on that day mate. But i'm sure with your reputation within the industry you could ask them and see if you can come for a look around. Hattie is exceptionally approachable to chat to about stuff as well.
It's a pro-pre-season test day really.

I'm going to grab a set of 65mm rise O-dub bars from DMR as well as i'm slightly curious on these setups. I do think that with a 470 reach on my boys Atherton, that potentially fitting your setup wouldn't work though as it'd bring the reach to something too short ? But that doesn't mean i'm not prepared to give it a whirl.
 
IMG_3678.webp

It’s taking notes from the moto world. Bars over/slightly behind fork.

I think it could be made to look ok if it wasn’t so tall then get the rise more out of the bars if needed. I’d be interested in trying one out
 
At first it seems so ugly and/or strange because we’re not used to it.

As for Hattie wondering whether to raise the handlebar even more, I can confirm that during my various tests I reached a point where, for me and my bike geo, it was too high. Basically, I didn’t feel comfortable cornering (which is normally one of its strong points), especially as the speed increased. YMMV
 
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