stormchaser

Guys I have an old MTB which is slightly too long in the top tube & current stem.
Looking at changing to trekking bars. Wondering if those using them changed their stems & if so, longer or shorter.
Edit to say it has flat bar & barends now.
Thanks!

robmcl

I was in your situation once too. I think the best way to proceed is to put the trekking bars on first and then go from there.

robow

robmcl nailed it, in the end after trying slightly longer and shorter I found I used the same length stem as with my straight bar with the same degree rise

Wil Davis

I converted to trekking bars on my MTB about 2 years ago. My MTB was of early 90s vintage and had straight bars, and a quill type stem. This meant having to fit an adapter in order to change the stem easily without having to remove all the bar-tape and brake levers and things from the handlebars each time I wanted to experiment with the set up. I played around with the stem-length and the bar position until I eventually found a stem-length and a bar angle which was fairly comfortable, but which involved fitting a set-back seat-post as I couldn't get my Brooks Conquest to go far enough back (I kept bashing my knees on the shifters when standing); that might not be a problem in your case as I think you said your frame was on the long side.

In a recent post (use search and look at the pictures), I noticed that someone had set up their trekking bars the opposite way from the way I'd set mine, so I thought I'd try it to see if there was any improvement, but during a recent long ride I decided that the new settings were too uncomfortable so I changed everything back.

Apart from trekking bars providing so many riding positions, there are many ways of setting the bars to start with, including the tilt; so many people set them "flat", which (to my mind) limits the number of choices.

Hope this helps -

- Wil

George

Wi Davis, with the Brooks did you get a setback seatpost or just use the one you had?

I put trekking bars on my bike and I went with the 120 mm stem and sometimes I wish I had more. I would go with what robmcl said, and ride it for a while and see how it feels, good luck.

Wil Davis

The post which came with the bike was straight, and worked fine with the original stem/bars combination and the Brooks Conquest. I ended up buying a Thompson Elite (which needed an adapter sleeve), but the fit is much better now. As other folk have mentioned, fore & aft adjustment isn't one of Brooks' strong points (at least with the Conquest).

- Wil

stormchaser

George - You should be riding the Alkek Velodrome, not post-hijacking on the forums! (ha) Great drome you have there, I have ridden it myself.

Thanks everyone for the input.

George

LOL, I'm 67 years old in August and riding is getting me in pretty good shape, but not that good. I've only bern down here for a year and I went over to the Velodrome a few times, but eveytime I go, nothing is going on. I'll have to get a schedule.

n4zou

Here is a photo of my trekking bars.

I reused the stock stem and it's fine for me.

Here is a photo of the original handlebar setup.

Wil Davis

Hi Scott! You were the person to whom I referred earlier; I tried changing my trekking bar set up to be similar to your current set up, but changed back after doing a long ride recently during which time I found that particular set up to be uncomfortable. It seems to me that the bars in your first picture are back to front; all the angles are wrong, and even with playing around with the tilt I wasn't able to get a comfortable position.

- Wil