i was mostly talking about road bikes. running a short stem on a tt/tri frames isn’t a big deal and won’t screw with the handling, as tt/tri bikes pretty much just go in a straight line.
I totall agree.
are we dorks or what … ‘arguing’ about stem length on an internet forum. on a saturday night, no less. man, i need a life.
I totally agree (I do too)
You will notice a big difference between the $30 aluminum stem and the $300 magnesium stem because the magnesium stem will break.
Alright Tom, that is one scary picture! Will you divulge the manufacturer of that stem so that I can take it off my list?
See the other thread about it. Maybe Tom shouldn’t name it, but I can. It’s a Deda Newton, could be any one of a number of different Newton models they’ve made. They all look pretty similar IIRC.
http://www.dedaelementi.com/cat_racing.asp
The thing is, their handlebars look really nice but the crappy job they did with that stem makes me too nervous about their “engineering” to buy one.
I think it’s dangerous to generalize about any piece of equipment based on a sample size of 1, but especially in this case where we have no idea of how the stem was installed or maintained. One thing I do know is based on the length of the cracks, the owner was so lax in his maintenance that he didn’t know or didn’t care when the cracks first showed up. It doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in how that stem was maintained.
Jack,
I really don’t think this is as much about the manufacturer of the stem and some failure on their part as it is about the person who purchased this particular stem and their failure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions regarding installation and particularly how to torque the face clamp bolts.
The better question, in my opinion, would have been who is the “#####” that torqued these bolts?
This is an excellent demonstration of the consequences of over torquing bolts on a bicycle. Consider also that that stem face plate was torqued down on a carbon handlebar. Now the handlebar is probably junk as well. Imagine the cost of this foolish decision to just reef the sucker down really tight.
Anymore, one is far better off to use a torque wrench and follow the manufacturers recommendations for tightening bicycle componentry. This is even more the case with some of the “exotic”/“expensive” materials that some bicycle components are manufactured out of.
Hopefully, many of us can benefit from this expensive and foolish (compromising his safety) mistake made by another. Certainly, he can be grateful that his error and failure were spotted before a catastrophic failure occurred and he was spared the consequences that he may have suffered in that component failure.