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Submitted by
Tony
a Cross Country Rider
from Charlotte
Date Reviewed: August 11, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$209.00 | | Purchased At: | Moots | | Strengths: | light- stiff | | Weaknesses: | $$$$-pricey | | Bike Setup: | Trek STP 300, carbon extras, | | Bottom Line: | Light stiff, feels good everything it should be, would I buy the product again? Yes. It is alot of money for a stem but what the hell it is better than blowing $200 at the local bar.
over it is great and i like it 4 chilis because it is spendy | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bruce Dance
a Cross Country Rider
from Damp, delightful, Blighty
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2002 | | Favoriate Trail: | Helvellyn | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | Bicycle Outfitter, Los Altos CA | | Strengths: | Light, strong, well designed, well finished, won't rust, stiff enough, and a thing of beauty to boot. You can have pretty much any size/rise you like. The welding is as immaculately executed as any I have seen. | | Weaknesses: | Not cheap, not easy to change bars or swap stems (although I note the later version has a removable front clamp). Steel bolts are strong, but will eventually corrode unless copper-ease or similar is used. Watch out though- you might end up wanting one on every bike you ride, which is an expensive habit to get into.... | | Similar Products Used: | Titec fathead + various welded Al stems (on other bikes). | | Bike Setup: | Moots YBB SL, XT, 517's, King, X-lite bar ends, Moots finishing kit t.out, custom-built Judys (special upper tubes + true rising rate coil springs + unique speed-sensitive open bath oil dampers + no flippin' knobs to twirl in vain or valves to leak = 90mm of super-plush controlled travel with no bumps and clunks + complete reliability. Which is nice. ) | | Bottom Line: | I feel my Moots wouldn't be complete without it. Actually, I reckon to finish off most 'dream XC bikes' (esp. with a Ti frame) you would want one of these or something very similar. Although it appears ruinously expensive, there is very little available that is significantly lighter. Also, at this weight, nothing else performs as well or is likely to be as durable. Moots' welding and finishing is probably the best available. This plus the good fatigue behaviour of Ti means it should outlast several welded Al stems. If you plan to rack up the miles and/or keep the bike a good few years, the quality shows through and it works out good value in the end. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jon
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Island
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2001 | | Favoriate Trail: | Oat Hill Mine Rd. | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | MTBR Marketplace | | Strengths: | Weight
Build Quality/Precision
Its from Moots & its Ti | | Weaknesses: | Retail price is silly
| | Similar Products Used: | Titec Fathead Ti
Syncros Cattlehead
Steelman Cro-Mo | | Bike Setup: | Custom Ti hardtail/Superfly/King Ti headset & Hubs/Moots Stem&Post/SevenCycles Ti handlebar/XTR DRivetrain/RaceFace Cranks/ATACs | | Bottom Line: | Bottom line is that I bought this to match my high zoot Moots laid back seatpost on my dream bike. Would have paid retail (yeah, I know), but found a super deal on the MTBR marketplace. No complaints, I have had Ti stems before (Titec, actually a great stem) and been very happy with them. Welds are typical Moots, which is to say top notch. Was planning on buying the new Ti-Beam stem w/ removeable face, but did not want to wait and the price I got was too good to pass up. Like my Moots post, I have a tough time believing that anyone NEEDS a Ti stem, but hey, its my dream bike, so who cares!!!
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Richie Rich
a Cross Country Rider
from Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2001 | | Favoriate Trail: | Kettle Moraine | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | Direct from Moots | | Strengths: | A beautiful piece of "bike jewelry."Light,stiff,and well-designed,which is how it should be for the $200.Looks great perched atop a Chris King headset. | | Weaknesses: | $200 for a stem!Decidedly chi-chi when a Raceface or Thompson stem cost less than half and work so well. | | Similar Products Used: | Raceface,Kore | | Bike Setup: | Custom Seven Sola Ti | | Bottom Line: | Beautiful,but $200 is a ton of money for a stem,even for one as beautiful as this. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Phil Esempio
a Racer
from Dresden, OH
Date Reviewed: November 25, 2000 | | Favoriate Trail: | Mt. Tom @ Arcadia, RI | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Gearheads Bike Shop, Indianapolis, IN | | Strengths: | Nice finish, stiff for Ti, overall quality. | | Weaknesses: | Non-removable face, some bolt issues. | | Similar Products Used: | Dean welded Al, Kore Elite 3 | | Bike Setup: | '97 Trek OCLV Pro Issue, '97 Manitou SX-Ti, XT 9spd drivetrain; Race Face Next crank, Taperlock cro-mo BB, Real Seal headset, Litespeed Ti flat bar, OnZa ti bar ends | | Bottom Line: | This stem was a gift from the shop owner, and I truly doubt I would have paid the $200 plus that is normally charged for these things. Despite that, it is very stiff for a Ti stem, probably due to the bi-axial ovalization of the stem tube. One of the original bolts snapped during assembly of the bike, but was easily replaced...in the year since then, no issues such as creaking, flexing, etc. that others have complained of. I crashed hard in June, breaking a carbon handlebar, which meant that replacing the bar wasn't an easy chore, given the non-removable face. The Ti bars flex alot more than this stem does. All in all, a great stem, but in my opinion, not worth the mega $$$ most people would have to spend. A $ 50 - 75 Al stem is just as nice and stiff, but if you must have Ti, this is sweet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
hb
a Cross-Country Rider
from albuquerque
Date Reviewed: December 24, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
lightwell madework of art2 bolts are better than 1 | | Weaknesses: |
$ | | Similar Products Used: |
lots | | Bike Setup: |
moots,xtr | | Bottom Line: | lightweight well made, beautiful stem. Don't see stem flex as a big problem. how much can a 5 inch length of large diameter titanium which is clamped at both ends firmly really bend when compared to tire flex, fork flex, wheel flex, and handlebar flex? | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brett
a Racer
from Greensburg, PA
Date Reviewed: September 6, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
light, the craftsmanship | | Weaknesses: |
getting riser bars in the clamp is a B*$#& | | Similar Products Used: |
many | | Bike Setup: |
Moots YBB, speedgoat mod3 fork (sid crown, judy lowers, englund air) | | Bottom Line: | This stem is sweet, it is light and the welds are top notch. i did have a little prob trying to get an easton monkey lite into it. had to pry open the clamp with a screw driver. However this is what moots recommends and with a little muscle my bars are in and i'm happy | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Martijn Scheffer
a Cross-Country Rider
from Brussels
Date Reviewed: March 23, 1999 | | Favoriate Trail: |
fds | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Fantastic looking welds,weight,two bolts are better than one.Thomas Frischknecht used one on his ritchey bike (before it was stolen),custom sizes available. | | Weaknesses: |
flexy,very expensive, even when compared to other Moots products | | Similar Products Used: |
FRM Ti Stem | | Bike Setup: |
Moots YBB,SID,Chris King,Moots handlebars,SID,Mrazek TI cranks,Moots seatpost etc… 19.5 lbs | | Bottom Line: | I have a Moots bike and that's why i have this stem,it's fantasticly build but i think it's too flexy for me. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael
a Weekend Warrior
from Park City, UT
Date Reviewed: March 22, 1999 | | Favoriate Trail: |
Tour de Suds, Park City | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Strong, light, very good looking. No problems so far. As opposed to other rider, I have felt no flex in the stem, and no clicking noises (just how in the world does a solid piece of Titanium give off clicking noises? Moots has a huge range of rises and lengths. And if it is not just right, they will replace it. | | Weaknesses: |
Expensive. | | Similar Products Used: |
None | | Bike Setup: |
Merlin Echo | | Bottom Line: | It is expensive. Too expensive? Maybe, but when you get up into the higher price brackets, $100 additional does not bring you a whole bunch more in quality or performance. It has a high trick factor, so that's worth something. But the guy below better check out his headset or something else. A stem doesn't make noises. Certainly not mine. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
T.R.
a Cross-Country Rider
from Germany
Date Reviewed: March 19, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
The Moots Ti-stem is a nice looking MTB-stem, with quality workmanship, it's beautifully welded and and it's very light (150gr/135mm/O°). Nice two bolt clamp. | | Weaknesses: |
It' a very expensive stem, which does not offer much stiffness at all. The steering performance is not so precise as with an aluminium stem. The bolts begin loosening after some hard rides, you have to put thread-lock on them. Moreover after fast, rough descending and by out of the saddle climbing, it makes clicking noises, when you push the bike a little harder. I had two Moots stems, the first (140mm /0°) was replaced by Moots, because it was not straight, but both stems make these clicking noises. I had the chance to ride a Specialized Ti-Stem (140mm /5°), this make the noises too, perhaps it's a problem of long Ti- stems, or generally of Ti-stems. | | Similar Products Used: |
I tried a Syncros Stem, and Klein MC2 bar-stem combo they both offer more stiffness than the Moots, and so the steering performance is much better. But remember the Moots stem weights about 100gr less than the syncros stem (256gr, 130mm / 0°) . I can not compare the weight to the Klein MC2, because it's a bar stem combination. Actually I ride an RPM- aluminium stem, which is a german manufacturer, I replaced the Moots, because of it's weakness and the clicking noises. The RPM ist a very quality stem (CNC-Stem, three bolt steerer clamp, and four bolt handlebar clamp) with nice workmanship, and it offers much stiffness, although it does not weight very much (215gr/135mm/0°). It's stiffer than the Syncros and lighter. The specialized Ti- stem offers the same weaknesses as the Moots, but it's finish is not so perfect as the Moots and it is 40gr heavier, but you have to guess that it's much cheaper than the moots. | | Bike Setup: |
Ti-hardtail with front suspension and XTR. | | Bottom Line: | In my opinon the Moots is a stem for lightweight riders, which are looking for a lightweight, well finished stem for their Ti-Bike, and who prefer a smooth riding style without hardcore ambitions, and who are willing to accept clicking noises on their 210$$ stem. I judge the Moots stem this way: For the finish and the quality workmanship and the lightweight, I give the Moots five stars. For it's steering performance I give 3 stars, for it's price and especially it's clicking noises, when it's tortured, I give it one star. So I have to give him two and a half stars. But if I compare the price with it's performance on the trial I give it only two stars. | | Overall Rating: |
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