Any lowering you do well affect your ride. .. the lower you go the more it affects the ride. Lowering it just a little bit isn't bad. ..there are plenty of people that ride lowered bikes with no problem. That being said if the balls of your feet touch. IMO (and my opinion only) that would allow for plenty of controls. At 5'5" all I have is tippy toes and I handle it just fine. ..I guess it's all in what you get use to. .. I wouldn't want to sacrifice the ride