Submitted by
Pablo
a Weekend Warrior
from withchataw
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2006
Strengths: Very stiff and very light
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
I have never had a problem with the Bonty stuff and these stems are no exception.. I use a 120mm on my XC softail and it is extremely stiff. I use them with Carbon bars and have never scared or cracked a bar yet.
Bike Setup: I use this stem on several bikes, HT, ST, and FS
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Submitted by
Sam
a Weekend Warrior
from San Mateo, CA
Date Reviewed: February 28, 2002
Strengths: Tough Good finish
Weaknesses: Slight rust (normal for steel here)
Bottom Line:
This is a review for the old quill style stem. It came off my Bonte Race Mtn bike when I upgraded to threadless and went straight to the cross bike. After a year of Mtn. riding and a couple more of cross/commuting it is going on strong. I've bent a couple sets of bars and the alignment on the stem is still dead on and the stem has only twisted in the streertube once (Not bad for a quill). I sure wish Trek hadn't screwed up Bonte's quality, the new stuff is just too hit and miss.
Bike Setup: Cro-Mo cross bike with a Mutt-like mix of components
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Submitted by
Paul
a Weekend Warrior
from Dayton, Ohio
Date Reviewed: November 17, 2001
Strengths: Stiff, clamps bar and fork well enough
Weaknesses: manufacturing defect - clamping surfaces not perpendicular.
Bottom Line:
Here I thought I had bent my bar and finally got around to buying a new one. Got tired of having my stem slightly cocked to the left so my hands were correctly positioned. Turns out it is the stem and not the bar! When squared up the right hand is about 1/2 inch lower than the left. One by one the Bontrager components are coming off the bike because they are inferior. You all can believe what you want... but I'm telling ya the quality just isn't there anymore!
Submitted by
Rodney B V
a Weekend Warrior
from Mesquite, TX USA
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2001
Strengths: Stiff. Short (60mm). Bonty quality is obvious. Various lengths allows anyone to improve "fit" of their bike.
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
Switching to a short stem with minimal rise has given me much more control. I'm positioned further back, so moving off the back of the saddle riding down hills is easier. I no longer feel like I'm leaning forward too much. This is the kind of modification that can make a bike FIT YOU. Tweaking your riding position with a quality Bontrager stem (many sizes to choose from) can make a real difference. And about needing two different size wrenches - SO FREAKIN' WHAT! Anybody can install it - and anyone can improve the fit of their bike with the proper length stem.
Bike Setup: KHS TEAM ST W/ XT and XTR and Bontrager stem.
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Submitted by
logbiter
a Cross Country Rider
from santa cruz, cali
Date Reviewed: January 24, 2001
Strengths: stiff, does what it's supposed to, 'knee saver' design.
Weaknesses: Minor quibble- but I don't like 2 different size bolts heads either.
Bottom Line:
AHS ahead stem here, silverish color. It's stiff- waay better than the Specialized ti stem I tried for a while- what a noodle! Steering precision good, although my stock stem wasn't a problem. It's quite a bit lighter than the A1 stem came stock on the bike (which I'm sure was a Tahoma w/ a specialized sticker on it). Set it up and forget about it. No probs in 2 years use, except a bit of rust in the bolt heads.
Strengths: elegant black finish, light and strong, no bolts will hurt your knees, Bontrager logos
Weaknesses: I can say that using 2 allen key is dull but who are too lazy to put this in a weakness?
Bottom Line:
it's not complex (it comes with a instruction manual!!), 5mm allen key is for tighting the handlebar, 6mm key is to thight the steerer tube. But it's a kind of "agace". Anyways, the general look is good and a Bontrager product will not break. 7 degree angle is ok, a ) degree would be also good
Strengths: -strong -stiff -relatively inexpensive -inconspicuous -Bonty quality -does what it's supposed to -steerer bolts tucked safely away -tough finish
Weaknesses: -different size bolt heads for steerer and face clamps -a touch on the heavy side -limited rise options -inconspicuous -moves when tightened
Bottom Line:
What can you really say about a stem? The Bonty does what it was designed to do w/o much fuss. It's sufficiently stiff, light, and cheap.
The only issues I have are when installing, the steerer clamp twists a bit to the right when it's tightened down and you need a 5 AND a 6mm allen to get it all done; why not just use one size??? These issues are really nitpicky and have no bearing on its actual performance.
Overall, it's what you should expect from something w/the Bonty logo stamped on it. Nothing too fancy or light; it just plain works. Bolt it on and fuggetaboutit.
5 chilis for value; it's hard to beat 30 bucks. 4 chilis overall for the mismatched bolts and the fact that it could stand to lose a few grams.
Similar Products Used: -Control Tech -Answer ATAC -Tawain Inc.
Bike Setup: Bonty bar, stem, & post
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Submitted by
Dan
a Weekend Warrior
from New Orleans, LA
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2000
Strengths: stiff, strong, good finish, bolt location
Weaknesses: only offered in 7 deg rise
Bottom Line:
Great design, no flex, bolts are well placed, not the lightest thing out there but not outrageously heavy, good finish, one quirk that I noticed was that, due to the location of the steer tube clamp bolts, the stem will pull to the right about 2 deg when tightening the steer tube clamp - thus requiring subsequent readjustment - no biggie once you are aware of it and can compensate. I just wish they made other rise options in addition to the 7 deg. Five flamers for doing it's job very well.
Similar Products Used: Kore Elite, Control Tech, Kore 3D forged, Generic forged
Bike Setup: Specialized S-Works FSR, SID XC, full XT
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Submitted by
shanedawg
a Weekend Warrior
from san jose, ca
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2000
Strengths: Beautiful, inexpensive.
Weaknesses: Can't put it on my bike!
Bottom Line:
I ran the old quill version for 6 years and had no problems. I recently bought a Z2 to replace my old judy and decided to go threadless at the same time. Only one problem. I wanted to get the new bontrager race AHS model but could not find a 1 in. model anywhere. You would think that you could find a bontrager stem to go on your bontrager bike, but NO. Trek decided to be a bunch of knuckleheads so I had to go with the ritchey comp lite instead. It is also a good stem but doesn't have the same lust factor. Thanks for sticking with us Tom! 4 chilis for the price, 1 stinking chili for not making the 1 in available.
Bike Setup: bontrager hard tail / Z2 atom bomb 1 in.
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Submitted by
Matt
a Cross Country Rider
from Berkeley, CA
Date Reviewed: June 8, 2000
Strengths: removable faceplate, large steerer tube clamp, stiff.
Weaknesses: What?
Bottom Line:
when I first got my bike, I made the mistake of thinking that lighter was better with the Icon. It turned out to be way noodly, especially when paired with my SID and my 200-lb. frame. The Bontrager is absolutely perfect, especially since I got it on the cheap. The removable faceplate is really important to me, since I ship my bike a couple times a year.
Submitted by
Mason
a Weekend Warrior
from Philadelphia, PA
Date Reviewed: September 13, 1999
Strengths: Light Cheap Removeable faceplate Screws are in a gonad safe area
Weaknesses: A little hard to tighten
Bottom Line:
Only problem I've had is that I thought I had it tight enough only to have my handlebars move after a very hard hit. You have to really bear down on the faceplate screws to get it tight enough. I'm no small guy (5'9, 185, bench 350) and I have to crank the screws. SO far they haven't stripped on me.
I have a 2011 epic 29er. The stem looks like
it is cracked. Has this happened to anybody else? it doesn't seem like a scratch and it would be a weird place to scratch a bike.
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