Submitted by
MAXXED
a Cross Country Rider
from Honolulu
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2003
Strengths: Strong, lightweight
Weaknesses: Poor quality allen head bolts supplied.
Bottom Line:
Fortunately, I did not have the misaligned weld problems that a few have experienced. However, I did have the same problem with the allen head screws being slightly off sized and too shallow. They would barely hold 40 in/lb. of torque before slipping! Hats off to Bob Kalmbach at Kore's Customer Service. When I inquired about this problem, he contacted me right away, and had ProNet(Kore's North American Agent), ship me a complete set of replacement bolts. The new bolts are different. They fit much tighter and deeper on the allen head openings. No problem in reaching the 90 in/lb. recommended torque settings now! Great stem, no creaks, squeaks, or flexing. It looks great, and I love the knee saver clamp design. If you have problems with your Kore stem, contact them right away, they will make it right!
Strengths: I bought this stem because it was 9$ and I wanted a stem that wouldn't bust my knees up. I think the knee saver system works good. Also since it was installed I have not had to do anything, it has been trouble free.
Weaknesses: There are better stems out there for more money if you care that much.
Bottom Line:
If you don't have the money than this is a great stem
Bike Setup: XTC frame, XTR front and rear, powerglide 7.0 cassette, lx crank with race face bashguard, duke race 02 fork, roll x rear tire, python front tire, and a kinda bad wheelset, though I don't care that much about it.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Hunter
a Cross Country Rider
from Casselberry, Fl
Date Reviewed: January 23, 2003
Strengths: Value
Weaknesses: not one
Bottom Line:
This is the stem you want! Get the type that has the 3 bolt pattern in the front so you don't have to take off grips, shifters, and brake levers. I have always had Kore stems and I never had any problems. Install and forget. I even have my old one on a spare bike my roommate pounds and it still holds true after over SIX YEARS of use. nuff said.
Bike Setup: Trek Hardtail with Full Shimano XT 9spd system, Race Face Cranks, Mavic D521 rear/Sun O degree front rim, Ringle headset, LX V-brakes, Avid 1.9 levers, Kore stem, Titec riser bars, RockShox suspension seatpost, RockShox Judy Race fork, Primo pedals, ODI grips.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Jon Staldine
a Weekend Warrior
from Gillette, WY, US
Date Reviewed: October 11, 2002
Strengths: Cheap. Tough, tight, looks SO cool. Good brand reputation.Beautiful construction.
Weaknesses: none experienced.
Bottom Line:
Just buy it... it's cheap, studly, and gets the job done. I don't know about these people having problems with the bolts. if you go to KORE's website, there is INSTRUCTIONS as to how to put the thing on! With bolt tightening tolerances.
Bike Setup: Trek 4300, new pedals, Prolink saddle, the stem, titec bar (the original rised bar was... visually unappealing)and someday... disc brakes and Marzocchi fork. RST crapper until it dies.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Tyler
a Cross Country Rider
from Savannah
Date Reviewed: October 6, 2002
Strengths: The price i paid for it, can't beat it, and it has done very well so far. I haven't experienced any flex, the bolts have not stripped like some of the others have said... just don't tighten them too much and you'll be fine. It looks good too.
Bike Setup: Giant ranier, mostly replaced all stock parts.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
gnarley a.j.
a Weekend Warrior
from the berkshires
Date Reviewed: September 18, 2002
Strengths: looks cool, price, available in the size i needed.
Weaknesses: The stem bolts! Altough I didn't have a problem with threads stripping (yet) like some of you guys, I found that the bolt heads were poorly made. I couldn't get a hex key to fit them and even went to te local tool supply place to get a new one thinking my wrench was maybe of poor quality and just didn't fit the bolts properly. No luck. The bolt heads are just a little off and so shallow that even if the wrench didn't swim in them, it couldn't go in deep enough to get a grip. I bought some hihg quality machine scews w/allen heads and that took care of the problem. Unfortunately, it took the better part of my morning off to run around town trying to cure a problem that never should have occured in the first place.
Bottom Line:
If you don't mind running around to find bolts that work properly, this might be a good buy, however any product made by such a well known co. as Kore shouldn't have ANY problems with quality. I don't think I'll buy any more of their products. As a matter of fact, I'm looking at new bikes and am staying away from any that are using Kore components. If you like tinkering, this may be a good buy, but if you are the kind of person who just wants to bolt on and run, forget it. Buy another brand.
Bike Setup: Stock,except for the new stem, bar ends and pedal cages
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland, OR
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2002
Strengths: Light, black, strong. Can't beat twenty dollars for an eighty dollar stem.
Weaknesses: None so far.
Bottom Line:
I'm not too sure why people are stripping out their bolts, you don't need to tighten them as far as they will go. Lay off the steroids people. Good stem overall, I'll give it 4 flames.
Submitted by
Bertan Tokuzlu
a Cross Country Rider
from Istanbul
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2002
Strengths: Looks fancy
Weaknesses: The stem clamp bolts stripped 3 weeks after I bought the stem.
Bottom Line:
The stem clamp bolts stripped 3 weeks after I bought the stem. Now, my brand new, fancy looking Kore stem is useless. This was not the quality I would expect from a 70 USD stem. I am very very disappointed. Don't buy this stem. It is a waste of money!!!
Strengths: it's cool lookin, and it has a good handlebar clamp.
Weaknesses: stripped bottom steerer clamp bolt after a couple months.
Bottom Line:
this stem is good for a little while, i bought one, stripped the bolt, bought another, stripped that one. my advise is put some money into it and get a good stem like a race face.
The stem clamp bolts strip really easily, the alloy is not strong enough for the short thread length available. Buy only if cheap enough, & then be very careful tighteneing up. Not worth paying a lot for.
Submitted by
Adrian
a Cross Country Rider
from Laramie
Date Reviewed: June 5, 2001
Strengths: Very strong and made the ride more bearable, allowed me to sit up more.
Weaknesses: AS always the bolts, I was riding up a steepp grade pulled the bar to wheel hop a rock and the handlebar slipped , walked to the top, took out the allen wrench and adjusted them sequently a mmm ot two at a time, and the bottom bolt stripped. 6 miles to the car.
Bottom Line:
Fine if you want a stiff stem, but for seventy bucks, screws shouldn't strip that easily. 1 chili not even flaming
Bike Setup: On both bikes(S.C Chameleon,Surly 1x1)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Krado
a Weekend Warrior
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: January 31, 2001
Strengths: It's Kore! And besides being strong, it's a cool looker too! It dosent flexx under pressure and that's why I love this. It also grips the handlebar well and dosent slip!
Weaknesses: Heavy, but who cares when you want strength? I find the extra 90grams not important at all!
Bottom Line:
This is one stem worthy to be thrashed around. If you have the cash lying around, but this stem. It rocked on my bike and I'm sure it'll rock on yours!
Oh, and one last thing during setup, make sure all the screws have the same amount of torque in them, or else you will damage one of the screw threads.
Similar Products Used: Pieces of Kalloy $hit. They sucked.
Bike Setup: Stock Diamond back vectra comp se save for a few parts
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
joe
a Cross Country Rider
from little falls nj
Date Reviewed: January 9, 2001
Strengths: looks cool, good name on it
Weaknesses: rode it only twice. i was adjusting the fork and heatset, tightened the stem, the lower bolt got stripped to nothing. the stem is now worthless.
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