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Home | Product Reviews | Stem | Azonic Shorty | ||||
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Submitted by
adam tarling
a Weekend Warrior
from belmont,CA
Date Reviewed: 11/30/2005 7:05:20 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | panis |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $115 |
| Purchased At: | woodside bike shop |
| Strengths: | very strong also kind of light good 4 bolt |
| Weaknesses: | a little too expensive |
| Similar Products Tried: | dont know |
| Bike Setup: | santa cruz nomad |
| Bottom Line: | buy it right now |
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Submitted by
Andy
a Weekend Warrior
from Fort Collins
Date Reviewed: 8/18/2005 5:22:25 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $60 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | Looks cool I guess |
| Weaknesses: | Stripped the stem out at the steerer clamp. Not the bolt - the stem. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Supergo cheapo... |
| Bike Setup: | Brodie thumper, lot's o' freeride stuff.... |
| Bottom Line: | This thing sucks. Save your money and get a cheapo stem. I stripped the thing with a multi-tool. (you can't put sh*t for torque on with those things) That's rediculous! No I did not over-torque - I'm pretty careful about that. You can go to supergo and get a stem that looks about the same for 8 bucks. I haven't broken the 8 dollar stem yet in 6 months.... |
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Submitted by
John
from Fort Collins, CO
Date Reviewed: 5/25/2005 9:08:30 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | PricePoint |
| Strengths: | price, strength, looks. |
| Weaknesses: | hard to clean, but who cares? |
| Bike Setup: | 03 KHS FR2000, Z1, Romic, replaced stock stem with this. |
| Bottom Line: | The Shorty has been a great stem for me. I've never needed to adjust or tighten it. I've taken it on and off a few times for headset maintenance and it has always slid right off, so no problems with ovalizing or warping. I'm not a huge hucker myself but I have put a good beating on this with smaller drops, and it has been very solid. Note to Dan the Man, previous reviewer. Pricepoint has sold the Shorty for $50 for well over two years. Plus Jenson now sells the Aggro for $30, so maybe you should have held out longer. But no worries, I'm sure a "downhiller" in Cincinatti with a DJ2 knows a bargain when he sees one. |
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Submitted by
Dan the man
a Downhiller
from Cincinnati Ohio
Date Reviewed: 5/18/2004 10:51:51 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only |
| Price Paid: | $51 |
| Purchased At: | jensnousa.com |
| Strengths: | I have an Azonic Aggro. Not a shorty. My stem is just a cool and just as good as a shorty just it wasn't $120. That's so stupid! Stiff, 6 bolt handlebar clamp, somewhat light, pretty black |
| Weaknesses: | Nothin so far.. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Haha.. all you stupid people paid $120 for a gay stem. I got one just as good as yours, if not better, for 51.50 shipped to my house and a free sticker. |
| Bike Setup: | '01 Diamondback Team Issue '03 Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 2 |
| Bottom Line: | This stem is sweet. Looks cool, is cool. I hope you all take advantage of this great deal at Jensonusa.com. It's only 5 bucks off retail but its a deal. Great stem. Go buy one if your homo shorty broke on you. |
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Submitted by
Rustapharian Monkeybutler
a Downhiller
from Jamaica
Date Reviewed: 8/31/2003 1:03:34 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Your Mum |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $120 |
| Purchased At: | Shop |
| Strengths: | Strong, fairly light and nice feeling while it lasts |
| Weaknesses: | They tend to break |
| Similar Products Tried: | Tioga Cube |
| Bike Setup: | Giant ATX Oldskool DH build |
| Bottom Line: | I rode this stem for ages and it felt fine but then as soon as I started trying even slight drops lately, I managed to break the stem in half, but just held together by enought of a "thread" across the top of the stem to get me home. It is very strange as the crack goes from the bottom up, where it should go from the top down, and even with the tiny thread of aluminium left, i cannot even bend it! This is also strange seeing as i put hardly any strain on the bars AFTER a 3 1/2 foot dropoff and it just bent under my arm weight. I shown the bike shop and all they said was "Yeh... Azonic stuf breaks". I cannot understand this seeing as they have such good reviews! My new tioga cube is a lot heavier and cheaper, but also much stronger! |
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Submitted by
Doug Brummett
a Weekend Warrior
from Santa Cruz, CA
Date Reviewed: 12/16/2002 4:41:31 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Anything in Santa Cruz |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | Clean CNC work (unlike all of the immitations that came out after), knee clearance with bolts, 4 bolt bar clamp |
| Weaknesses: | None |
| Similar Products Tried: | couple of cheep jobbers, and welded stems, got a shorty when my ORC stem got stress markings after only a couple of weeks. |
| Bike Setup: | Originally ran the stem on my dual slalom rig, but have had it on my freeride/enduro bikes for the last 1.5 years |
| Bottom Line: | This is a good, solid, stem. Not a single complaint after 2 years with this thing. Okay, maybe the weight thing. But I would rather tote along the extra couple hundred grams than pick gravel out of my chin. I have ridden this stem in everything from cross country to dirt jumps. Never a creek or moan from it. This is one of those install it and forget about it items. We should all have a lot more of them on our bikes. |
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Submitted by
mark mierop
a Cross Country Rider
from wayne, Nj, 07470
Date Reviewed: 10/2/2002 6:25:33 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Plattekill, NY, whole mountain |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $115 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | I have been riding for years, but have gotten totally back into it last year, and switched from a hardtail to a a Klein Mantra. It was a big change to a softtail and after riding a bit felt a bit stretched out, and alot of flex in the old easton stem. I switched, and found the steering control, and geometry ( with a double wall riser bar, also azonic) greatly improved. this stem is indestructible, well engineered, BUT a pain in the butt to clean out the nooks and grooves. I would buy another if i needed it, and would recomend it to anyone who feels they need a bombproff stem. |
| Weaknesses: | ability to clean |
| Similar Products Tried: | azonic Hot seat, and double wall riser bar, well integrated with the riser bar, very adjustable, and stron |
| Bike Setup: | Klein frame, azonic handlebar, stem, seat, bontrager seat post, avid 7.0 brakes, shimano xtr front derailer, a head set, onyx cranks, shimano xt rear derailer, kona platform pedals, bontrager superstock wheels, and veloceraptor tires, 2.3 front, 2.1 rear, love it good cross country bike, excellent downhill set up, and a blast in the wet and muck |
| Bottom Line: | Buy it, use, it, and learn how bombproof, all the azonic products are......... |
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Submitted by
Hugo
from Portugal
Date Reviewed: 8/9/2002 5:35:04 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | urban terror |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $60 |
| Purchased At: | angel pilot |
| Strengths: | everything on this rocks , strenght , looks , weight , |
| Weaknesses: | what is a weakness on this ? the price (if u cant do time ....) |
| Similar Products Tried: | nothing even comes close |
| Bottom Line: | its has been used and abuuuused over and over and always comes back begging for more. If you fancy drops , jumps , stairs , this will take all that u can trow at it |
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Submitted by
Carl Friedrich
a Weekend Warrior
from Minneapolis
Date Reviewed: 6/7/2002 11:27:17 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Urban |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | eBay |
| Strengths: | Stiff and super strong. Looks awesome. Nice wide handlebar seat for awesome rigidity and support. Locks solid onto steerer tube. |
| Weaknesses: | It doen't understand this term: Weakness |
| Similar Products Tried: | Kalloy, Specialized, Kore, Race Face, Koski, a lot of descent stems... This one rules |
| Bike Setup: | 2001 Specialized Enduro, Psylo, Hayes Disc, Big Fat Mammoth Rims on XT disc, Kujo DH tires, Azonic Loveseat (oh yeah!!), Azonic Platforms, and lot's of other good stuff, A stiff urban assault bike |
| Bottom Line: | This stem is awesome, I got a great deal on eBay, but retail is certainly reasonable. If your stem has a narrow clamp on it and the handlebars flex due to that, then this is your solution, or if you just want a stiff-as-hell stem for any type of riding (freeriders, that's you), it will would perfect. It completed my bike very nicely. |
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Submitted by
Kurt
a Weekend Warrior
from Northern IL
Date Reviewed: 5/7/2002 12:29:55 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $60 |
| Purchased At: | online |
| Strengths: | large bar clamping surface . suprise ! it weighs less then the oe stem , but is 10x beefier . no big knobs / clamping hardware exposed to rip you up when going over the handlebars . |
| Weaknesses: | none so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | none |
| Bike Setup: | giant warp : easton carbon 1.5in riser bar |
| Bottom Line: | best heavy duty stem for $60 . the large/wide handlebar clamp makes me less concerned about breaking the carbonfiber handlebars at the stem like ive seen others do . freeride and downhillers should like this one . |
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Submitted by
Tino
a Weekend Warrior
from NH
Date Reviewed: 3/24/2002 11:21:40 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | the bloody finger |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $63 |
| Purchased At: | ebay.com |
| Strengths: | extremely stiff, no flex, no creaking, very very strong, lighter than i expected, great polished finish |
| Weaknesses: | nothing |
| Bike Setup: | 2001 Pipeline - 5 in z3 fork, 24" rear atom labs trail pimp, 26" sun mammoth up front, hayes discs, xt, race face dh cranks, azonic 75mm shorty stem, flat pedals |
| Bottom Line: | one of the best, stiffest, strongest stems out there. |
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Submitted by
James
a Weekend Warrior
from Somerville, MA
Date Reviewed: 3/12/2002 3:56:36 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Purchased At: | ebay |
| Strengths: | short, well machined, stronger than hell |
| Weaknesses: | None that I can think of. Hard to grip when you're pulling the bike up the stairs by the stem, I guess. |
| Similar Products Tried: | OEM Bontrager. (creaked like grandma's rocking chair on climbs) and Kore lite 3 (I think) which has been apretty solid stem so far, but the bolt heads are stripped out (I figured the aluminum would go before the bolt heads... I figured wrong) |
| Bike Setup: | Trek 6700 set up as freeride, and a Nashbar steel frame that's freeride/commuter. |
| Bottom Line: | I have one on the Trek. I'm getting a new fork for the Nashbar and decided I'd get a different stem since the bolts on the Kore are shot. The Kore has held up well, I guess, I'm just looking for something shorter and beefier since I'm starting to get used to stairs around where I am now. (The stairs are responsible for my needing a new fork now. my 260 weight has killed my cheapo RS fork) The bike goes where you think about going, the stem is stiffer than hell, and the shortness gets me that much farther back off of the saddle. Well worth the $60 I paid... which, incidentally, is almost what I paid for the steel frame. But it's steel, and it's nashbar, so go figure. |
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Submitted by
Matt
a Downhiller
from Spokane WA
Date Reviewed: 2/24/2002 9:05:46 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Beacon rocks! |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $60 |
| Purchased At: | Price Point |
| Strengths: | Its short, its square, it likes pain. |
| Weaknesses: | Hard to get down over your steer tube, but its not a problem. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Kona factory stem |
| Bike Setup: | 01' Kona Stinky. z-1 qr20, hayes hydros, thomson post, raceface cranks, bash guard, FSA pig dh....and on and on |
| Bottom Line: | Its a block of aircraft aluminum, its not going to break! Not heavy and its very stiff. I like |
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Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from California
Date Reviewed: 11/29/2001 8:54:04 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $70 |
| Purchased At: | price point |
| Strengths: | Strongest stem out there -BEEFY -No flex -Cool looking CNC -Four bolt face plate |
| Weaknesses: | None! |
| Similar Products Tried: | AC bar tender - Race Face |
| Bike Setup: | S.C Chameleon set up as a free rider |
| Bottom Line: | This stem is the strongest one out there and will out last any other components on your bike, bolt it up and foget about it. I've tried out many stems and this is the one! I have an extra one off a different bike I just sold if anyone wants it. It's still in perfect condition and about three months old. It's 75mm - 10 rise and silver. I want $50.00 for it and I'll cover shipping anywhere in the USA. E-mail or Call: mike@tcbgraphics.net (209) 367-8781 |
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Submitted by
a Downhiller
from The North Shore in British Columbia. Canada
Date Reviewed: 11/26/2001 8:25:14 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Nutcracker |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $110 |
| Purchased At: | Freaky Freddies Freeride Facility |
| Strengths: | STRONG...No flex...Looks good |
| Weaknesses: | Not one |
| Similar Products Tried: | Syncros,Raceface..etc |
| Bike Setup: | 2001 "Bullit"...2002 Marzocchi Z-1 "Freeride"...Hayes,Raceface,XTR..Basically as high end as you can get |
| Bottom Line: | Well....It's pretty simple. This stem has held up to the dreaded North Shore and all the drops it has thrown in my direction and has not complained in the least. The amount of alleged "flex"....(if you can call it that) is non-existant. As far as stripping the threads out goes....If you do have that problem you really should buy a Huffy. ANY competent mountain biker with HALF A BRAIN knows you don't have to strong arm bolts into aluminum,but don't forget to put anti-sieze on the bolts first. Well thats all to be said on this stem....If you have to cry about the price then you need to re-evaulate your defination of "High end parts" because you only get what you pay for...Period. 5 smokers all around ps...Notice the lack of profanity? |
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Submitted by
John
a Downhiller
from Ft. Worth TX USA
Date Reviewed: 11/20/2001 10:32:13 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Sandia Out of Bounds |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $120 |
| Purchased At: | Phat Tire |
| Strengths: | Looks great, lasted a long time. A lot of work went into making this piece. |
| Weaknesses: | Did crack, but after a good year of hard use... |
| Similar Products Tried: | Race Face, Syncros, Kore |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz "Bullitt", Hanebrink fork, Hayes brakes, Kona DH cranks, etc. |
| Bottom Line: | I can't complain about it cracking, really. I've had it for a little over a year, and bike stuff will wear out over time, if you ride hard. That's just the facts. Azonic was really cool about handling the warranty, so I should have a new one in about a week. It's one of the best-looking stems on the market, and there's almost no flex at all. |
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Submitted by
dropdis
a Downhiller
from INDY
Date Reviewed: 7/26/2001 8:28:13 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | dropdis, you know what I mean... |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Purchased At: | QBP |
| Strengths: | the regular shorty is stiff and strong |
| Weaknesses: | But the shorty for the chubby bars is weak! My face plate snapped in half due just to tightening. My shorty for reg bars was awesome so when I got chubby bars I bought a new shorty just for them. I've been using my old shorty for years and have had no problem tightening it. The first tighten of the face plate on my new stem cracked it! We'll see if I get a warranty.... |
| Similar Products Tried: | shorty. It's the only way to go |
| Bike Setup: | ellsworth specialist, sun tomac disc wheels, xt disc, xtr, truvativ hussefelt, chubby with shorty. tioga 2.3 |
| Bottom Line: | reg shorty is awesome. chubby shorty sucks so far. We'll see how Azonic handles the warranty issue. 3 chili's just to get your attention and warn you about this possible problem |
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Submitted by
Chad
a Weekend Warrior
from Orlando
Date Reviewed: 6/26/2001 3:20:29 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Hardrock |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $60 |
| Purchased At: | online - pricepoint.com |
| Strengths: | LOOK AT IT!!! |
| Weaknesses: | NONE! |
| Similar Products Tried: | DON'T KNOW OF ANY |
| Bike Setup: | Proflex 756 w/ Noleen Elite Fork and Risse Racing Rear suspension |
| Bottom Line: | I have never seen a better stem. This stem has taken some abuse. A M A Z I N G ! |
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Submitted by
Roachclip
a Downhiller
from Provo, UT
Date Reviewed: 5/18/2001 12:55:11 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Squaw Peak face |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $89 |
| Purchased At: | Ardvark Cyclery |
| Strengths: | Undisputably the strongest fetchin' stem in the Mountain Bike industry. |
| Weaknesses: | Undisputably the most expensive stem in the Mountain Bike industry. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Power Tools DH stem, Specialized P3 stem |
| Bike Setup: | Specialized P3 Disc w/Azonic Shorty |
| Bottom Line: | If you've got the dough, I say go for it. It looks cool, it helps the ride, and chicks dig it. The only problem that I have found with mine is that Azonic machined out the stear tube hole too large, so when you put it on, tighten it down like nobody's buisness, or else you could end up stearing yourself of the edge! I give Azonic a 10 for maketing. Their stems and handle bars are what they mainly make, but people wear their jerseys, and adorn azonic stickers on their cars; all for a stem? |
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Submitted by
mel
a Downhiller
from sydney
Date Reviewed: 4/11/2001 4:43:15 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | loftus |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | good angle, length, doesnt come loose, quality workmanship, has a removable face plate. |
| Weaknesses: | none so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | syncros - toss |
| Bike Setup: | gt00id3, azonic bars,stem,loveseat,post, etc etc |
| Bottom Line: | I have 2, 50mm, 75mm, the 50 has a very direct feel, good for dh, trails, street, the 75 is good for a down country setup. good value, azonic is the quality |
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Submitted by
adam young
a Downhiller
from melbourne, victoria, australia
Date Reviewed: 1/23/2001 11:09:41 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | lots |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $90 |
| Purchased At: | vicmtb |
| Strengths: | stiff,design,range of colours and lengths,solid clamping on both ends, not to expensive. |
| Weaknesses: | nothing apart from I managed to snap the lower bolt twice(but that was my fault,I overtightened it) |
| Similar Products Tried: | Kore, specialized, ac, |
| Bike Setup: | specialized rockhopper, d521, avid, azonic, rockshox |
| Bottom Line: | A very good quality stem that Isn't to expensive, although at first I couldn't get it to clamp solidly but that was a case of loose steerer tube bolts on my old RST's.Also for some reason they are now priced at $90,they used to be about $250........ |
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Submitted by
Mount Malevolent
a Downhiller
from Anytown, USA
Date Reviewed: 1/19/2001 3:05:33 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | meat grinder |
| Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only |
| Purchased At: | stolen |
| Strengths: | its aluminum it can be saved! |
| Weaknesses: | its aluminum! |
| Similar Products Tried: | irrelevent |
| Bike Setup: | who cares! |
| Bottom Line: | bottom line is when tightening a hardend steel bolt into a piece of soft aluminum you should lubricate the bolt with lithium grease or a good anti-sieze and be carefull not to over torque. Only a 3-5 ft lbs is required. however if you do happen to strip the threads don't panic. Take one of the bolts to your local hardware store or auto parts store and have the thread pitch measured. Next ask for a helicoil thread repair kit,then follow the directions. You will need a drill and a vise also. Don't have any tools? Borrow or rent them. If azonic refuses to warranty this manufacturing error then my suggestion is try the above before you recycle that expensise piece of aluminum. good luck and tread lite. |
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Submitted by
Forrest Arakawa
a Downhiller
from Oakland Ca
Date Reviewed: 11/13/2000 11:27:15 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Palos |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Strengths: | Really stiff. Bolts right up. Fits perfect. |
| Weaknesses: | none |
| Similar Products Tried: | Kore |
| Bike Setup: | Intense M1.. Ellworth Truth |
| Bottom Line: | I bought these stems because of all the great reviews. One is a 90mm on my 4in Truth and a 50mm on my M1. No problems have come about yet. I have taken them on and off a few times without any bolt or fitting problems. The stem is really stiff and durable. I did a preety big drop on my Intense a month or so ago where my Boxxer and Tomac DH wheel both were bent to shi$... My stem was fine. Anyway, if you are looking for a really beefy stem go with the shorty deluxe. |
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Submitted by
Johnny
a Weekend Warrior
from Fremont, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: 8/17/2000 4:03:07 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Soquel Demonstration Forest |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | some guy on mtbr |
| Strengths: | super stiff and strong. looks burly as all hell. |