Originally Posted by
dsaul
If you shorten the frame by 30mm, the head tube is going to be significantly longer. That length is going to be on the bottom of the head tube, so it will not just raise the handlebar height. It will raise the whole front end of the frame, changing the head tube angle, seat tube angle and bottom bracket drop. It will not be the same bike made shorter. It will be a completely different bike from a handling perspective.
Just put a short stem on it and ride it. The stem will effect handling far less than the change you propose.
This is exactly the known unknown that I was wondering about and had not considered. I knew the head tube would need to be lengthened and as such would raise the front of the bike but I had not considered that it would throw off the center of gravity of the rider. I am on the hunt for a shorter stem but as of yet not found one. Anyone have a 80mm Jackson panto kicking around lol. To get it right the whole bike would need rebuilt and that is not a task I am into. I may as well start from scratch rather than do that.