Travis Bickle wroteHe must have been a XC rider if her was talking about longer stems! Perceived wisdom with trail riders has been short stems and wide bars for a while. As with most of these things a lot of it is bollocks but there is some logic to having that set-up if you're riding techy stuff. I have what people would regard as quite a long stem but it sits me perfectly on the bike, any shorter and there's a risk I'd feel too upright. None of these things are perfect. If it feels right for you it probably is. Do any of the shops do demo days? I know someone who did one and it really helped them work out what they wanted and what size they needed etc.
I reckon a 'L' is right for you at 6'1.
Definitely have to sit on them Cuts. I'm 6'1" but have diddy legs and a long body - I always have to get 32" trousers as the 34" are too long. Guy at the local shop was telling me that different makes have different geometries - was looking for a road bike at the time and he advised me to look at BMC and Pinnacle (I think) as their top tubes generally came up longer
I ended up getting a Cube in a medium - I have the seat quite high up and the top tube length is good for how i like to ride
A lot of the mountain bikes now are going for lower top tubes to give you 'ball room' so I'd shop around a bit
Trav will know more about the wheels but my understanding is go for 29" if you're going to be doing a lot of miles on bumpy stuff but 26" or 27.5" if you're going more technical stuff where you might need to chuck the bike round a bit more
