Submitted by
Calvin Hobbs
a Weekend Warrior
from Richmond, VA USA
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2001
Strengths: Light Nice Powdercoated finish Simple Nifty little plastic Ritchey emblem on faceplate of stem
Weaknesses: Narrow shaft that allows for some flex
Bottom 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.
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
Bike Setup: Wheeler 5000zx, lx groupset and Zokes Pro forks.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross-Country Rider
from Minneapolis, MN
Date Reviewed: September 25, 1999
Strengths: Light, stiff, inexpensive, satin finish looks great all the time
Weaknesses: 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.
Bike Setup: Fuji Pro frame mixed components Judy SL fork
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jay Norejko
a Cross-Country Rider
from Bethlehem Pennsylvania
Date Reviewed: June 8, 1999
Strengths: Inexpensive, light, does the job
Weaknesses: None
Bottom 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.
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross-Country Rider
from Rochester, NY
Date Reviewed: April 21, 1999
Strengths: Light, inexpensive ($20 mailorder) and it works.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom 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.
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...)!
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.
