CNC machined 6061-T6 uses no welds in the construction, giving it incredible strength and durability. Available in a wide range of sizes and colors to give your steed some hot rod charm.
Similar Products Used: Trek non-descript thai special
Bike Setup: Trek 6000, Rock Shox, Raceface, Kore, X-Lite, Hope
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ivan
from C-Springs
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2005
Strengths: Cheap. THese are on closeout everywhere.
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
I bought this stem because it was on sale at one of the online stores. You can find them ~ 50% of MSRP. Nice 4 bolt front and 2 bolt stem clamps. Stem has held up well to my SS ways.
Submitted by
Ferd
a Weekend Warrior
from Cumming, Ga
Date Reviewed: June 7, 2005
Strengths: solid no brainer installation
Bottom Line:
This was great stem. It twisted aprox 12 to 15 deg. I called raceface and the said they never heard of one of these stems twisting. ha da easton ec70 bar it cracked at the interface but did not break. raceface said they would look at the stem and probably replace it. I hope so if not 5 years is a good run
Bike Setup: K2 5000 LT raceface thompson easton mavic
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Joe
a Cross Country Rider
from OH
Date Reviewed: December 19, 2004
Strengths: strong, stiff, works
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
I've used it for 1.5 years and had no problems. stiff and rigid. I actually bought a used one on ebay and then a new one because I liked it so much and could not resist the price. The used one had some rust on the bolts, which are supposedly rust proof? Race face sent me new bolts, what a great company. I've replaced it with the RF Deus though because I needed something shorter on my new bike and had one laying around. You can get these on ebay brand new for a good price too.
Similar Products Used: Kore elite (stripped threads), deus
Bike Setup: Titus switchblade, RF next cranks, Marz forks, Mavic 3.1rims on Sh XT hubs, RF stem, Thomson seatpost, candy pedals, WTB saddle, Cane creek headset, Hutch spyder ust tires, Avid discs, Rogue lock on grips and some other stuff.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
eric hadzima
a Cross Country Rider
from rockville md
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2004
Strengths: looks great . avilible in many colors and its a part that you put on and leave alone . the bolts are super strong and wont strip
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
great for a rider that wants to make his or her ride different from another . oh yah there on sale now for like 20 bucks on line
Similar Products Used: bonty race lite /race , amoba ,ritchy
Bike Setup: fisher xtr-xt bonty race tubeless, hot-s,fox talas
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Tony
a Weekend Warrior
from Earth
Date Reviewed: July 4, 2004
Strengths: Super stiff No noise
Weaknesses: Not one-piece design like Thomson
Bottom Line:
As if another positive review is needed...
When you install a stem and never hear from it again (I mean that literally), you know it works. Combined with the RaceFace bar, it's completely silent. Only wish the stem came as a one-piece design - but when it works this well, I realize I'm nitpicking.
Submitted by
mark b.
a Weekend Warrior
from ft wayne, in
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2004
Strengths: RF! Stiff, does not flex; good looks -- "ruggedly handsome"
Weaknesses: limited compatability
Bottom Line:
a perfect match for the bar! there is NO movement in this combo, no noise, nothing but pure transfer of rider input. Light (makes the whole bike feel 2 lb lighter)w/ the carbon bar, and is a pleasure to the fingers (when i roll it in & out of work for commutes, i steer by the stem). After the extra time on this combo, I can only say YEAAHH, BABY YEAAHH!!
Similar Products Used: RF Prodigy, Profile BOA, OEM crap
Bike Setup: motobecane x4b2.0, black fork, xt crank, deore-sunDS-2, profile carbon riser
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
mark b.
a Weekend Warrior
from ft wayne, in, usa
Date Reviewed: February 25, 2004
Strengths: exotic looks, stiff (so far)
Weaknesses: limited success with other bars, works best w/ my profile carbon
Bottom Line:
can't flex the stem or the bars! stiff, light (lighter bar/stem combo than my bar alone!). doesn't work near as well w/ the titec bar i have, so be careful of the bar you use with it.
Bike Setup: black fork, profile carbon riser, XT, deore/sun ds-2
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Doug
a Weekend Warrior
from Cleveland, oh, USA
Date Reviewed: October 4, 2003
Strengths: Looks damn cool, respect from the name alone causes people to tremble in my wake, or perhaps it's the lightning bolts I conjure up from my fingertips to strike down the unworthy... One of the two.
Weaknesses: The System stem has a SHORT clamp height on the steer tube- Beware! If you ever want to replace it, think about using shims to make up the difference, or suffer the consequences of needing a new fork, as well, because not many stems will fit afterwards, especially stock and/or cheapie replacements. It's more expensive than most.
Bottom Line:
As a large, 6'3", 275lb man, I can assure you that the pressures I exert on this stem will be greater than anything you can come up with in your wildest imaginations. Even buying this used (very nice condition), I have yet to have a single problem with it, other than needing new spacers to compensate for the shorter clamp height. PLEASE NOTE: stems such as these are aluminum, and have a set amount of torque that they can take before the mounting threads stretch. DO NOT yank on the bolts like an ape- you're being as counterproductive as possible. TO all those who hate this stem because it loosens up in 20 minutes or whatever, you've gone too far already. No amount of grease, or locktite, or praying to your favorite God will help you now. You MIGHT get away with Heli-Coiling the holes and starting over with less torque. Even Heli-coils, though, have torque limits. You do NOT need to crank down on one of these things to get it tight! Max torque should be around 15lbs/ft? It's only a little bolt!
Similar Products Used: Race Face Prodigy, Easton EA50 & 70
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Superlight A (2001 frame), Fox Float RLC 100mm forks, Mavic Crossmax XL wheelset, Panaracer UST Trailblaster tires, Race Face Turbine LP crankset, XT cassette, Sachs PC69 chain, Race Face stem, carbon Monkeylite bars and seat post, Shimano 959 pedals, XTR shifers and mechs, Hope Mini brakeset
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Daniel
a Weekend Warrior
from Greensboro
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2003
Strengths: I never had to think about it
Weaknesses: Heavy. but that makes it strong
Bottom Line:
I bought this stem two and half years ago. You know its good when you don't think about it. I have taken it apart to remove the fork and the handler bars several time and i never worried about strippen the bolts. its a good stem
Submitted by
Charlie Doble
a Cross Country Rider
from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2002
Strengths: Strong, stiff, relatively light, and looks awesome to boot.
Weaknesses: Whatever!
Bottom Line:
Excellent stem. And since I previously used a Thomson Elite, it really had enormous shoes to fill. Absolutely no creaking or noises (lightly greased all screws and threads with Finish Line Teflon Grease before installation, obviously). Very stiff, makes me feel very secure no matter what type of terrain I tackle. RaceFace has earned my respect!
Bike Setup: Trek Y2K 7000, XT hollowtech splined cranks, XT cassette, XT shifter/lever set, XTR V-Brakes, XTR rear and front der., Race Face Air Alloy Flat Bars and Good n'Evil grips, Cane Creek Ergo Control bar ends, Mavic CrossRide Wheels, Race Face XY seatpost, Race Face System Stem, Selle Itallia Prolink TransAm saddle, Time ATAC pedals, Salsa Skewers and Lip-Lock seat collar, SRAM PC-99 chain, Hutchinson Python Gold front tire, Hutchinson Mosquito Gold rear tire, hell, the only stock component left is the metal flake yellow frame...!
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
grant
a Cross Country Rider
from sale, victoria,australia
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2002
Strengths: Looks good, and finishes my bike with its other raceface bits.
Weaknesses: It creaks and moans and makes more noise than the rest of my bike and my mate's bike put together.
Bottom Line:
The stem seems to work fine. It just makes so much bloody noise. I tried to fault find my front end creaks and ruled out the stem because it was from "raceface". What a joke. It takes more than a good name to be successful for the long term. If this stem performed as advertised I would certainly recommend it to my friends and also buy another myself, but it doesn't. Raceface just lost another half dozen potential sales. That doesn't make good sense to anyone, even a top canadian company like Raceface. They must have known from R and D that their stem design creaks, or why else does the new high-end stem design look so different. Does it work? Convince me Raceface.