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Submitted by
Jonathan
a Cross Country Rider
from Waco, TX Grand Rapids, MI
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Cameron Park | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Village Bike Shop | | Strengths: | Very beefy and robust design, Liplock system is not just a gimmick, it works. Nice finish and graphics too. | | Weaknesses: | Weight | | Similar Products Used: | Stock Kona stem | | Bike Setup: | 2001 Kona Cindercone w/ a lot of upgrades | | Bottom Line: | I wanted a really strong stem after my original one had the bottom bolt strip out after a year, not to mention it was a bit short and a bit flimsy overall. I saw the Salsa and expected it would be $80, but even at the LBS it was only $40. It is EXTREMELY robust and the Liplock system ensures the bottom bolt won't loosen up on every ride like my old stem. It has ZERO flex, ZERO creaks, and it has a very wide face for plenty of grip on the bar. For $40 you can't go wrong. Its not all that light, but the weight of a stem won't make any difference at all, and this will probably outlast my bike. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
phoeneous
a Weekend Warrior
from las vegas
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | anywhere | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Procyclery | | Strengths: | Looks, Stability, Weight, Rise, Length | | Weaknesses: | Price | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized stock piece of crap | | Bottom Line: | This was my first upgrade. I changed my stem primarily because on the stock Specialized stem there is a little sticker that says "Not intended for intense off-road riding". Seriously, it says that. So, I went shopping for a stem. I was looking at RaceFace, Kore and Titec. I really liked the MotoAce because of the look. The paint finish matches my handle bars to the tee. It nevers creaks, bends, loosens or breaks. The bolts dont strip or get loose. I like to silver face plate, adds spice to the bike. Besides, chics dig the chilli pepper :). 5 flaming hot ones! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
G Naz
a Cross Country Rider
from Milwaukee
Date Reviewed: July 8, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Banzai on the East Side | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Wheel & Sprocket | | Strengths: | Easy intsall, fairly light, came in lots of sizes, inexpensive. | | Weaknesses: | None, but the face plate could be a different color to match the stem. No biggie. | | Similar Products Used: | Stock generic stem, nice Icon and Ritchey WCS stem on other bike. | | Bike Setup: | '00 Trek 6000 set up for commuting and urban assult. | | Bottom Line: | What can I say? This is a nice cheap stem. Salsa makes pretty reliable stuff, and this is no exception. I like their face plate design... I've never had any real trouble with other designs, but the Salsa system seems to make sense. It also came in a ton of different length/rise combos, so you've got a lot of choices. Not the lightest thing in the world, but it's not supposed to be a race stem. It's supposed to be dependable, durable, and affordable. Good job with all three Salsa. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nony B.
a Weekend Warrior
from Manila, Philippines
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Anywhere I can ride | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$36.00 | | Purchased At: | Local Bike Shop | | Strengths: | Simple, Nice Finish, Available in various sizes. | | Weaknesses: | Protruding Bolts that tend to rust. | | Similar Products Used: | Kore 3D | | Bike Setup: | Diamondback | | Bottom Line: | I bought the 90mm version. Being used to a 120mm stem, I felt the handling improvement immediately. Nice simple stem yet looks kind'a cool. It doesn't look as wicked as my old Kore 3D but gets the job done. Weighs reasonably light. I replaced the bolts with stainless ones I bought from a local hardware store. Now the bolts no longer protrude as much and are totally rust free. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
weather expert
a Weekend Warrior
from iowa
Date Reviewed: October 5, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$18.00 | | Purchased At: | ultimateridingsports.com | | Strengths: | functional. | | Weaknesses: | no boutique factor. but still functional. | | Similar Products Used: | control tech, syncros, icon, trek sys 2 | | Bike Setup: | Mrazek Boh FX | | Bottom Line: | good functional stem. i have the 135mm 0d and have never run into any problem. for my next stem i would prefer a 4 bolt for rigidity though.
accept it or not, this is just another stem manufactured in the same factory using the same process and the same design. the structure is identical to many other stems (trek sys 2, tahoma, etc). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ra
a Weekend Warrior
from Germany
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Strengths: | Finish, strength (mine's 6degrees 80mm long), price | | Weaknesses: | hmmmm nope | | Similar Products Used: | roox, cannondale(junk), concept | | Bike Setup: | CDale SuperV, RS Psylo, Fox Vanilla, Sun Singletrack, Magura Julie | | Bottom Line: | Looks cool, gets the job done. what more can u ask? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
AL
a Weekend Warrior
from Knoxvegas
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Purchased At: | supergo | | Strengths: | beautiful looks, especially top cap, beatiful workmanship and quailty, and most of all, many sizes: basically everything | | Weaknesses: | nothin 'sept the bolts rust easily | | Similar Products Used: | reitchey | | Bike Setup: | 99 z1 alloy 10mm legth 5mm rise | | Bottom Line: | perfect! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul M
a Weekend Warrior
from Fremont, CA USA
Date Reviewed: March 4, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Any | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$28.00 | | Purchased At: | Universal Cycles | | Strengths: | Value, appearance, finish, overall quality | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized, Kore Forged | | Bike Setup: | KHS 1000 Frame, LX/XT components | | Bottom Line: | A great stem for the money, 17 degree rise worked great with the flat bar I wanted to use. Higher quality than the other stems I saw at this price. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: March 3, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Best stem for the least dollar out there, good quality, a different rise than most (17 degrees) that's great when you want a little more upright riding position, removable bar clamp, comes with a nice top cap with chilis on it. | | Weaknesses: | What weaknesses? It's from Salsa! | | Similar Products Used: | Kore, Ritchey, Syncros, Profile Stiffy (great stem, but twice the price of the Salsa). | | Bike Setup: | Jamis Dakar, Proflex | | Bottom Line: | I have equiped my son & wife's bike with this stem. There is no better stem for the money! These can be had for $30 anytime, anywhere. They are as good as stems costing 2 times as much. They aren't particularly fancy but they get the job done nicely. The quality is very good, as I'd expect from Salsa.
If you need a good stem but don't want to spend a chunk of money, give the Sala a try. I think you'll be impressed!
If you want something more unique, get a Profile Stiffy. It's excellent and different, but it should be for twice the price! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jason
a Weekend Warrior
from Arligton, TX
Date Reviewed: September 17, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Strengths: | Cheap, nice finish, comes with Salsa top cap, good installation instructions, Salsa always makes good stuff | | Weaknesses: | Um....I can't think of any. Oh wait!, I couldn't find it in red, that's kinda a weakness. | | Similar Products Used: | I've got a Salsa brake booster, does that count? | | Bike Setup: | 2000 specialized rockhopper pro | | Bottom Line: | What can I say, it's a stem. It hasn't broke in half and killed me yet, so I guess its a good product. Semi-humorous intructions. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Missouri-Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Rolla, MO
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Berryman | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Route 66 Bicycles | | Strengths: | Low price and light weight. | | Weaknesses: | Flexy and it has a small grip on your handle bar. It squeeked if I didn't have the bolts cranked down super tight. | | Similar Products Used: | Profile Stiffy, Control Tech | | Bike Setup: | Ionic Single Speed. | | Bottom Line: | I ride a Single Speed so I really crank on my handle bars when I ride. This stem always squeeked and felt a like it was flexing. I traded it for a Profile Stiffy and I was surprised at how much stiffer it felt than the Salsa. I think that this may have had a little to do with how narrow the handle bar clamp is. At the same time I have friends who swear by it, but they don't ride Single Speeds. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a Weekend Warrior
from Morgan Hill, CA
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Rocky Ridge, Santa Teresa Park | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Cheap, light, functional, short clamp height. What more do you want? | | Similar Products Used: | Kore, Control Tech | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale hardtail, Marzocchi Z1 CR, the usual suspects | | Bottom Line: | I got the 120mm x 15 degree version of this stem and paid $25 from Universal Cycles, for my flat bar. This is a fine stem with removable faceplate. Why people pay $75 or more for a stem is beyond me. As far as I can tell, this thing does the same thing. At 200g and $25, I don't think you can really go wrong. 6061 aluminum does the job for me. Five flaming piles of diarrhea. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jimus
a Cross Country Rider
from L.A.
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | any singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Nice finish, excellent range of sizes. | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | RF, IBIS, Bontrager | | Bike Setup: | Fisher with genesis geometry | | Bottom Line: | I bought this stem for my girlfriends bike because it was the shortest one available (50mm, 6 deg). She has a short torso and the 22.5 inch top tupe on her 15 inch frame is waaay tooo loong. Now her bike fits her. I was very suprised at the quality of this stem for only $25. It was beautifully polished too. The short one comes with no logos which is fine with me. Most of the aftermarket component companies (ie. Titec, Profile, RF, Kore, etc.) put huge, ugly logos on their products which detract from the simplistic beauty of the part and the rest of the bike.
A message to all manufacturer's: If you put on a logo, make it small and either laser etched or an easily removed decal! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andy
a Weekend Warrior
from Vacaville, CA
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | El Corte de Madera | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | inexpensive; does its job; comes in a variety of lengths and angles; relative lightweight (184g for 120mm/6 degree stem; matching lazer-etched top cap
| | Weaknesses: | Although it hasn't happened yet, I could see the potential for pain/injury if I should bang a knee cap against the heads of the protruding stem clamping bolts (OUCH!) | | Similar Products Used: | generic Trek stem | | Bike Setup: | 16.5" Litespeed Pisgah | | Bottom Line: | I recommend it if you are in the market for a good, inexpensive($25-30) and light stem. The chrome anodizing on mine was a little uneven and had a couple of small nicks in it. Being a perfectionist, I decided to sand off the anodizing and hand-polish the aluminum to a chrome-like finish. The stem now looks like a shiny work of art! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jon
a Cross Country Rider
from Apple Valley,Mn,USA
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Lutsen #32 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Simple, inexpensive, lightweight. | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | KORE stems, Icon stem | | Bike Setup: | Salsa Ala Carte, XT, Amp research F3 | | Bottom Line: | This stem is hassle free and simple. It is your basic removable face clamp stem. Made of aluminum unlike it's cro-moto counter part. This stem feels great and looks really nice. The price for one of these is unbelievable at about $30. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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