Bike Setup: Trek carbon Y, mountain mix, Fox F80 & Float RC
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Submitted by
Jeremiah
a Cross Country Rider
from West Richland, WA, US
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2006
Strengths: Reduces vibrations and the resulting hand fatigue.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
This product is worth the money! Out of all the things that you can do to reduce vibrations on the front of the bike this one ranks #2 to the front fork. Gloves, carbon handlebars. grips, don't even come close to the noticable difference this product provides. Awesome product!
Bike Setup: 17" Litech Magnesium, RockShox Duke SL, SRAM X.0
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Submitted by
Hangdog98
a Weekend Warrior
from Sydney, Australia
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2005
Strengths: Reduces vibration. Does exactly what it says it does.
Weaknesses: None yet
Bottom Line:
I can't believe how a lump of super stiff metal can reduce trail vibrations the way this thing does. I rode it for the first time on a very familiar trail and I stopped the bike to look closely at the trail to see if someone had swept it clean. I used to get numb hands and had to frequently pump my shoulder joint to get some blood flow. I haven't had to do this for three months since fitting the mag stem.
I've spent a lot of money over the years looking for comfort because of my many MTB broken bone injuries, even going Ti at one point. Nothing has worked like Magnesium. Now I want a magnesium frame.
Submitted by
Patrick
a Cross Country Rider
from Monterey, CA
Date Reviewed: January 17, 2005
Strengths: The stem does indeed damp vibrations. Its light, although only a few grams lighter than my stock Specialized stem.
Weaknesses: Its a little larger than I'm used to, since Magnesium is stiffer than Aluminum and less ductile. Not quite as neat-looking as some of the newer stems, or even my stock stem. Takes up a little more space on your fork steerer tube than other brands.
The MSRP is really high for what its worth, but for the discount price I got it at its not bad.
Bottom Line:
Magnesium is known as a "dead" or "ringless" metal. If you tap on a block of aluminum or steel, it'll "ring." Magnesium doesn't. Its also much stiffer than Aluminum and has a lower fracture toughness, hence the larger size of this stem. Oh yeah, and it'll corrode readily too, so the newer version of the MG-60 has a tougher coating to prevent this.
I replaced my stock 6 degree, 110mm stem with the 0 degree, 110mm MG-60. It sits a little lower on the fork steerer as I mentioned before, so I also got a taller riser bar to replace the stock bar. The weights are about the same.
The stem works. Vibrations were reduced as expected, which is what I bought it for. I had tried a carbon fiber bar for the same reason, but creased it during install even while using a torque wrench *carefully,* so I got scared of wasting more money on a second and never tried it again. This seems to be a more reasonable low-risk solution. You have to keep it clean and dry, and watch that the coating doesn't get removed, but if you don't and it starts corroding, its a lot less dangerous than if you accidentally nick a carbon bar and don't realize it. I'll take "gets ugly over time" over "may suddenly snap and cause catastrophic accident" any day.
I give it a score of five on value based on the price I received it for. I'd probably just live with the Aluminum stem if it had been $140...
This stem is simply awesome. I recently went out on a familiar ride in NY which has fast and twisty fire-road descents with lots of vibration coming from the pebbles and rocks on the ground. The stem did more than could ever be expected from such an overlooked and unexpected component. The vibration damping put me in absolute control on corners. Instead of the normal wrist bone rattling vibration, the stem reduced it to a mild hum that was completely ignorable and did not affect my riding at all. I was drifting through corners, tires barely holding grip, at times nearly sliding off cliff sides...all the while at unusual ease. The magnesium stem material does what is claimed. It reduces vibrations dramatically putting a stable handlebar in your hands and nearly deafening the vibrations from the bike below. I was and continue to be amazed by this stem. As far as corrosion...its new and has been dry for its life (except one ride actually) and shows no corrosion of any type. AS SOON AS IT STARTS Ill be posting my experiences with it. Hopefully it never will. For value I will give it a 5...mostly because it WAS $150 now its $50...for overall a SURE 5 for outstanding performance and build quality.
Submitted by
DAVE EAGLESON
a Downhiller
from BELFAST NORTHERN IRELAND
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2003
Strengths: DID WHAT ALL STEMS DO, HOLD YER BARS
Weaknesses: CORROSION, EXPENSIVE PRICE
Bottom Line:
LOOKED GOOD TILL IT STARTED TO CORRODE, EVEN WHEN REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY THE REPLACEMENT WAS NO BETTER. UNLIKE THEIR MONKEYLITES, THIS PRODUCT NEEDS A LOT MORE THOUGHT TO GO INTO IT.
Similar Products Used: MARIN OWN BRAND, RF DIABOLUS
Bike Setup: 2000 MARIN ROCK SPRINGS
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Submitted by
Jon
a Cross Country Rider
from St Louis
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2003
Strengths: looks kinda cool, i bought mine used about a year and a half ago and have had zero problems with corrosion. To the best of my knowlege, mine is a first generation greenish brown puke colored before they started making them corrosion resistent, and the little rubber nut saver is cool. yeah i know its for vibration dampening
Weaknesses: always scared i am gonna strip the threads
Bottom Line:
mine has had no corrosion probs. i have ridden in all conditions. Its always humid here in st louis, but i dont know if that would really affect the mag
Submitted by
Peter Hughes
a Cross Country Rider
from New Forest UK
Date Reviewed: December 11, 2002
Strengths: Nice clean looks, looks very high quality (again ata first)
Weaknesses: I called Easton to ask if they offered cheamotherapy sessions for their MG60 stems, when they asked me what the hell I was on about, I told them that my stam was infected with cancerous looking growths. It now looks like something my 3 year old daughter made in pottery class, although it's still on the bike, and performs the same.
Bottom Line:
If the notorious 'stem rot' could be controlled, then this would be a sweet, pucker stem. However 'don't judge a book by it's cover', this stem still performs, with good weight, it's just a pity it's got a surface about as smooth as the caves of drach!!
I have 2 of these stems and had the same corosion problem as everyone else. I e-mailed easton and they sent me out 2 new ones with a new and improved coating!! Very good customer service Thanks Easton
Weaknesses: it now looks like a piece of sh------------t grey cancerous spots growing by the day very pathetic easton we all dont live next door to an eastern agent where you cane just walk in and change it.
Bottom Line:
just tell me what to do with it now; Iam very pleased with peformance of the stem but I hope this corrosion is noy weakening it in any way lets just say between us its a poor show the other easton parts I have used ;bars seat post have been great so what happend
Bike Setup: diamondback xr-8 british version full xtr hayes hydraulic
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Submitted by
Fox
a Cross Country Rider
from Chico, CA
Date Reviewed: July 3, 2001
Strengths: It looks cool for a while... I Didnt't really notice if it was a any stiffer than an aluminum or chromoloy stem, maybe if was installed on rigid bike the vibration damping that easton claims would have been noticeable. Sure its light but sometimes saving weight in certain areas is not a good idea, ie.stem, BB,seatpost.
Weaknesses: I have been using this model of stem for almost a year, and I sending my second MG60 back to Easton for corrosion problems. Maybe I will ask for new pair of bars intead of a $140 Mag stem that corrodes after only a few months of use. When I recieved my second stem the kind folks at easton assured me that they had fixed the problem but obviously not, even though the finish looks different than the first it still corroded only after a couple of months of moderate riding. I am going back to my Kalloy Uno stem that cost me $15 yea sure it is not as pimp as the MG60 but its 3 years old and does not have any weaknesses other than being cheap.
Bottom Line:
My Hayes brake lever perches are made of Magnesium and they haven't corroded. Maybe they should get together... and fix easton little expensive problem.
I've just been to Bike 2001 in England. Nigel Page had his new Tazer. This was BRAND NEW. It had the new Manitou Black forks on it. I saw him at the end, with a broken stem.
I know this guy is a World Cup rider, but doing a small INDOOR Duel track shouldn't break a stem. For your information, it broke near the front cap.
Buy if you are a poser. If not, get a solid alu stem
Submitted by
Daniel Chua
a Cross Country Rider
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2001
Strengths: Sleek design and feels a lot lighter than it looks! Very unique color. Make your bike looks cool and that pretty much what this stem is good for.
My handlebar(CT2 Monkeylite) hasn't slipped yet.
Not sure if its stiff though... But I like that it is not as jarring like an aluminium stem.
Weaknesses: The bolts look cheap and cheesy. They had to! Because overtightening may ground out the threads! This magnesium compound is very soft!
Corrosion! Grey speckles are emerging from under the painted coat. See review below by Grant! He can atest to it!
Bottom Line:
I am sending my stem in to stake my warranty claim...
After paying US$139.00 and getting a stem that's beginning to rot in less than 6 months is disgusting!
Who would've thought that a big player like Easton to come up with a product of such inferior quality.
My advice to you all is to seek out metals of a less exotic kind for now...
I am skeptical even if I do get a replacement, it will be the end of my problem.
