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Reviews 1 - 8 (8 Reviews Total)
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User Reviews
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Calvin Hobbs
a Weekend Warrior
from Richmond, VA USADate Reviewed: May 13, 2001
Strengths: Light
Nice Powdercoated finish
Simple
Nifty little plastic Ritchey emblem on faceplate of stemWeaknesses: Narrow shaft that allows for some flexBottom Line: The bottom line is that this is a great stem for the money. I paid 50 bones for it. It's light, it's neat, it's simple, it's non-flashy, and it looks quite nice. It's cold-forged, with no welds of any kind. Believe it or not, that gives me some confidence in the integrity of any product. Welds can fail easily.
It does flex though, because of it's narrow shaft. My Azonic ORC was on an order of magnitude stiffer than this Ritchey stem (forget about the fact that the Azonic is ugly as hell). Because of the flexiness of this Ritchey stem, I wouldn't recommend it for freeriding or for use with riser bars because they are longer and would allow you to put more torque on the shaft of this stem.
As an XC stem to be used with normal length flat bars, I would highly recommend the Ritchey. And for $50, you'll get that rare feeling of actually getting more than what you paid for. 5 chilis for value. 4 overall (because the stem is not well suited to more kinds of riding.
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Price Paid:
$50.00
Purchased At: LBS
Similar Products Used: Azonic ORC
Bike Setup: GT Avalanche
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
James
a Racer
from Austin TXDate Reviewed: October 30, 1999
Strengths:
Had it for 14 months,5 races never had to mess with it period.
Ritchey product.Bottom Line: See strengths.
Ritchey rocks, the only product I've used of his that sucked was the tubes. 225# racer. Frame, Rims, H-bars,stem,spokes, pedals,tires,seatpost,headset
Favorite Trail:
Flat creek
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Similar Products Used:
KORE, Control tech
Bike Setup:
98S-Works M2
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Katrina Miller
a Racer
from Sydney, NSWDate Reviewed: October 23, 1999
Strengths:
Good, non-flex, light stem.Weaknesses:
None.Bottom Line: Good fork, nice with riser bars. Light but still strong.
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Similar Products Used:
Kore lite
Bike Setup:
Wheeler 5000zx, lx groupset and Zokes Pro forks.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross-Country Rider
from Minneapolis, MNDate Reviewed: September 25, 1999
Strengths:
Light, stiff, inexpensive, satin finish looks great all the timeWeaknesses:
Bolts got rusty after one wet ride.Bottom Line: It's light, it's inexpensive, it does everything a stem should, including keeping quiet. A quick shot of Boeshield stopped the rust on the bolts, but for $20 I'm more than willing to live with it.
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Similar Products Used:
Kalloy, Ritchey quill
Bike Setup:
Fuji Pro frame
mixed components
Judy SL fork
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jay Norejko
a Cross-Country Rider
from Bethlehem PennsylvaniaDate Reviewed: June 8, 1999
Strengths:
Inexpensive, light, does the jobWeaknesses:
NoneBottom Line: I needed a shorter stem (105mm) for my Klein and the Ritchey stem was a lot cheaper than the other stems I was looking at. It may not have the welds of a Kore stem but who needs them anyway. By the way I've noticed no flex in the stem and I've done some pretty aggressive riding with it.
Favorite Trail:
MountainGoat (WinterPark, Co.)
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Similar Products Used:
Icon
Bike Setup:
1998 Klein Mantra Comp (large frame)
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross-Country Rider
from Rochester, NYDate Reviewed: April 21, 1999
Strengths:
Light, inexpensive ($20 mailorder) and it works.Weaknesses:
noneBottom Line: This review is for the Ritchey Comp Lite aheadstem. Mine is a 1, 120mm with 6 deg of rise. This stem is light and strong. The manufacturing process used (cold forged, not welded) results in a low cost, strong, dimensionally accurate stem. This is a great product. My stem is secure, no creaks whatsoever; bar is tight, steerer is tight. What more could you want for $20. Goodbye Kore, you are expensive, heavy and I don't like your welds (but you are still cool). To the guy who stripped his bolt. First start with clean parts. Then, if you haven't learned to tighten steel bolts into alloy threads yet, get a torque wrench to learn the feel. Otherwise leave it to your trusty LBS.
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Similar Products Used:
Kore, Specialized
Bike Setup:
Specialized Stumpjumper M2 w/ RS Judy fork. Shimano LX/XT. Hyperlite EA70 bar.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Helix
a racer
from The NetherlandsDate Reviewed: May 18, 1998
Bottom Line:
Agree, not that crappy at all. Light, didn't break yet, does everything a stem should do. Nothing more. Doesn't have the coolness of a syncros stem or something. Loses an extra chili because the stem/bar angle is not perfectly 90 deg. Difference is a little too much.
Have fun riding. Spend your money on a nice holiday instead of nothing adding expensive parts (like I do. stupid...)!
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alex Sinanan
a
from Victoria, BC Date Reviewed: January 16, 1998
Bottom Line:
I was completely disappointed with this stem. I always thought that a stem was a stem. how wrong i was.
First, the stem would not bind properly to my steerer, then i couldn't get it to clamp my bar properly. My
steerer is a standard 1.125 aluminum steerer and my bar is a Critical Racing bulged Al bar. Nothing too
unusual. Upon trying to tighten the bar clamp, the bolt broke and it turns out that it uses a special female end
to anchor to the clamp. To get a replacement i had to contact a Ritchey dealer who special ordered one for
me. Also, this stem flexes like crazy. I know that Ritchey products are often build on the lighter side of safety,
but this was extreme. I ditched it. It was too much hassle to save 35 grams. To add insult to injury I replaced
it with a Taiwanese Kore-Licensed Ringle copy stem with removable faceplate. I did this despite the reader
reviews against Kore stems. This stem worked great. It's competitively light (195 g) and i've had no creaking
and my bar is held tight.
I will never buy a Ritchey product again.
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Reviews 1 - 8 (8 Reviews Total)
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