First things first, ride the darn thing..............and enjoy.

 

As Dark Peak says, get used to it first before possibly wasting any money on unsuitable upgrades / replacements.

 

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Simply pointing out that a shorter stem will improve handling and make it easier to get weight over the back wheel, which is fairly essential. Get used to it first indeed, but when it comes to SUITABLE upgrades, that's the first one I'd look at.

Thanks to one and all for your input. Just got home with this a Rockhopper just the colours I wanted and in nice original condition. A few jobs to do but nothing much and cant wait to get stuck in. The best bit is it was well under my original budget.

 

Pride of place..............In the kitchen.  .

Simply pointing out that a shorter stem will improve handling and make it easier to get weight over the back wheel, which is fairly essential. Get used to it first indeed, but when it comes to SUITABLE upgrades, that's the first one I'd look at.

No worries.....................shouldn't have said 'first things first' though, for sure.

 

A beginner wouldn't necessarily know what a shorter stem would do and whilst you say it would 'improve handling', it will make turning slightly faster, as shorter travel, but not easier, as less leverage is given, so this depends on what the rider wants. Hence definitely not 'first things first'.

 

Not trying to start an argument, just to save him his money.

Fair do's, shorter stem was one of the best pieces of advice I ever read and took on board though.