Submitted by
ser_papa
a Cross Country Rider
from San José, Costa Rica Date Reviewed: June 19, 2009
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Güilly Santa Ana
Strengths:
Liiiiiiiiiight!!!! Also, stiff and smooth.
Weaknesses:
If you install the stem with negative rise (inverted), the faceplate will be upside down.
Similar Products Used:
Race Face Deus XC
Bike Setup:
Santa Cruz BLT original with several of upgrades which don't matter for this review
Bottom Line:
This stem is insanely light. I compared it at the LBS with some Bontrager full carbon model, which weighed about 15 grams more! You'll be hard pressed to find anything lighter, either carbon or aluminum, in its price range. The only lighter stems at the shop were a FSA carbon, which cost double and was a mere 10 grams less, and a Rotor CNC aluminum work of art which cost over 4 times as much.
The four-bolt faceplate gives a solid interface with the bar, which is good especially with carbon handlebars such as my MonkeyLite SL. The faceplate has a locking mechanism to the stem body, which apparently improves engagement futher, but means that if you use negative rise, the E on the faceplate will really by a square 3. No big deal, right?
I'd prefer the faceplate and pinch bolts to be black and not shiny silver (unless they were titanium), but that's nitpicking.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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