Similar in design to our SYStem, the Prodigy stem is forged, heat-treated and machined from 6061 aluminum. This stem features no welds, which gives it a higher impact strength and increased fatigue life in comparison to welded stems.
Built For: the rider looking for the solid performance of a non-welded stem at a reasonable price.
Size: 80, 100, 110, 120 and 130mm
Rise: 8’
Warranty: 2 years
Colours: powder coated (shred red, back in black, team white)
anodized (shiny silver)
Bike Setup: Merida HT, Fox Vanilla, Juicey 7's, Raceface Evolove cranks, Hope XC hubs.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Kevin McMahon
a Racer
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: December 26, 2005
Strengths: Perfect. Canada rules. The bolt setup is very well done, making it clean and simple. I have bashed my knee before on stems on tricky trails when I get clipped out or whatever, and having no boltheads to destroy me is awesome.
Weaknesses: None!
Bottom Line:
It works great! no problems, holds the bar really well, creaks when it's loose and needs some cleaning, but it's reasonable light and cheap. If you want something lighter, you have to pay a loooot more.
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Taiwan
Date Reviewed: October 31, 2004
Strengths: Look, feel, finish
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
Beautiful stem. Completely stiff with no flex whatsoever. The Finish is very nice. The best part is not having the bolts at the rear of the stem, but at the side. Very clean design. No noise.
Submitted by
Mark B.
a Weekend Warrior
from Ft Wayne, IN
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2004
Strengths: good price, stiff, easy to install
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
the stem looks good, and performs perfectly; couldn't flex it (i weigh 235, used to pick up engine blocks). It gave me a perfect platform for steering and manuals. LOVE the no-weld aspect!
Strengths: Easy to install, looks good and bolts are out my way.
Weaknesses: ???
Bottom Line:
I got this stem to up grade from the stock higher rising stem that came with my bike. I bought it with the sette duo riser bar as a package deal. Seems easy to install, and looks cool haven't really rode much on it...yet. bottom line nice stem....nice price.
Bike Setup: Hr comp.. XT drive, marz mx pro w/eta, panaracer etc...
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Justin
a Cross Country Rider
from Memphis, TN
Date Reviewed: November 25, 2003
Strengths: -Looks Good -Light -Cheap
Weaknesses: -None Yet
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is, I needed a new stem. My old Spezialized stem flexed a tad (I weight about 180lbs) and finally the bottom handlebar bolt stripped out. I bought this stem b/c of the Raceface name and the fact that I got it pretty damn cheap. So far I've been very happy with it and I would reccomend it to anyone as well as buy it again.
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2003
Strengths: works great
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
After I bought the bike, I never really thought about the stem again....a sign that it's doing its job well (and quietly). I buy another one without hesitation!
Submitted by
Andy Orr
a Cross Country Rider
from Fort Collins, CO
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2002
Strengths: Stiff, light, good value, sensible rise, comes in a wide variety of lengths.
Weaknesses: A little finicky to set up straight if you don't do it right.
Bottom Line:
I bought this stem to replace the flexy and noisy OEM Titec that came stock on my 2002 Giant AC Air Lite (great trail bike). My first choice was a 110 X 15 Thomson I had laying around but the 15 degrees of rise was a little too much when the fork was in 5 inch mode. The 8 degree rise of the Prodigy was more like what I was used to.
So far, I have been very happy with this stem. I weigh 215 lbs and I have not had any problem with flex or creaking as described in other reviews. I have noticed that the stem can get a little cockeyed during install but it's easily corrected by "directing the stem" - giving the ends of the handlebars a quick tap with your fist - and tightening the mounting screws evenly.
Dollar for dollar, I think this stem is one of the best values out there.
Purchased At: pricepoint... where price is the point
Similar Products Used: Thomson Elite, RF SyStem, Titec, Syncros, Specialized
Bike Setup: Ever evolving AC Air Lite
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Stenchy
a Cross Country Rider
from Boca Raton
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2002
Strengths: Strong, good looking, does not creak like everyone says it does.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
A great stem for not alot of cash. It does not creak and I weigh 200 lbs. It mounts straight, I dont know whats the matter with the rest of these reviewers, they have no mechanical touch. They need to have their local shop work on their bikes, its obvious. This stem does its job!
Bike Setup: 2002 Specialized A1 Rockhopper with Race face cranks, mavic 517 rims, hayes mechanical hmx-1 discs, bontrager fs 2002 gel seat, hutch. python tires, xt derailliers and shifters.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
WA
a Cross Country Rider
from Redhill, UK
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2002
Strengths: Strength, looks, fittings
Weaknesses: Creaks and can be tough to get straight... see below for more info!
Bottom Line:
Solid stem, does the job of connecting bars to forks well enough. Chunky and rugged looking.
It does creak and click a bit under load no matter how tight you have it - it also looks quite easy to shear the bolt fixtures if you don't tighten the pairs evenly.
The previous reviewer mentioned the stem being crooked... it's not! This occurs because of the off centre steerer tube fixings - located at about 45degrees right from forward. When you tighten these, it pulls the stem to the right by several mm. This means you have to line it up slightly to the left, and then tighten it to get it straight. Race Face say it's designed like this to save your nuts in a crash... I say there's still a nice chunk of metal to crunch into, but this feature means you can never quite get the stem perfectly straight! Duh?!
Submitted by
Bubba
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin
Date Reviewed: April 16, 2002
Strengths: Holds handlebars to the steerer tube so i can steer my bike... out-of-the-way stem bolts... looks low-key.
Weaknesses: Holds handlebars to the steerer tube CROOKED... creaks like an 80-year-old, arthritic, chiroprator's nightmare.
Bottom Line:
A decent stem does it's job at holding the bar to the steerer tube without major problems and this stem does just that. Really a no frills stem; not a piece of art or feathery light, but again, it works. The out-of-the-way stem bolts are nice for me and my two thousand body parts. Nothing's really failed on the thing so far, but i have yet to really punish the sucker.
Although it works overall, there are little things that annoy me. One, the stem creaks even when torqued and greased. Usually when putting a lot of force on the bars on climbs and such, but creaks nonetheless. Second, it is crooked. I replaced my bars a while ago and noticed the same thing with the new and old bars so naughty stem.
A solid no-frills part that could use a couple of extra bolts on the front and some alignement.
Submitted by
Mad dog
a Cross Country Rider
from B-more Maryland U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2002
Strengths: Looks cool. Not heavy. The faceplate has two slots (or sights) that allow you to see the handlebar and gauge its angle (if your HB has tick lines indicating center) before clamping it down. This make is easy to set up. Bolts are on the side - not the back: this makes for one less thing to bust your n*ts on.
Weaknesses: Not as light as Easton's. Doesn't enjoy movies.
The non-driveside comes off just fine with my crank puller. However, that's not much help in replacing my little ring.
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