Originally Posted by
hsuehhwa
I wasn't comparing pros and cons of shorter/longer stems on handling. The point I was trying to make was, from longer to shorter stem the handling could be a lot "different". I've changed saddle to handle bar drop, saddle, saddle height, seat post, wheels on the same bike....Based on my own experience, nothing affected handling as much as switching from 110 to 80 mm stem.
Have you ever tried a short reach handlebar? Or moving the brake levers up higher on the bars? Either will do the same to handling as a shorter stem and are pretty well accepted by cyclists. But somehow short stems are always a 'major' handling change. A change, yes, I agree with that. But nothing major and no different than other changes that no one warns about.