Stem comparision/reveiw

[Tony]

Interesting stem review by Fair Wheel bikes.

http://fairwheelbikes.com/c/forums/topic/2014-stem-review-3/?utm_source=Fairwheel+Bikes+List&utm_campaign=7d01209654-March_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_514d9b6c53-7d01209654-414258309

[cfox]

Interesting. As a weakling "stiffness" doesn't mean that much to me. An often overlooked quality in stems is how friendly they are with carbon steerer tubes. I stopped using Deda stems because I found they always crimped my steerer even tightened at only 4.5nm. In my experience, stems that have a big, open cut out are tougher on steerers than ones that are more "closed" in the back by the bolts. There are a gazillion Deda stems out there, so clearly they are fine, but I just wasn't comfortable with a crimp in my steerer.

[pdmtong]

The rankings fall naturally out of a calculation. and as such now a hierarchy is created. the real question is road feel and if the deltas are material for the average rider.

The consumer calculation would also normalize to price...so we can determine how much a gain in "performance" will cost.

without these two pieces, the test is "interesting" but not actionable by me

[bcroslin]

Interesting test. I'm curious just how much of a difference a carbon stem dampens over an aluminum one. I own a Giant Propel that has an extremely stiff front end and I went to carbon bars to help with the beating I take from riding on crappy roads. I've wondered if I would feel a difference if I went to a carbon stem.

[wallymann]

Interesting test. I'm curious just how much of a difference a carbon stem dampens over an aluminum one. I own a Giant Propel that has an extremely stiff front end and I went to carbon bars to help with the beating I take from riding on crappy roads. I've wondered if I would feel a difference if I went to a carbon stem.

Carbon damps high freq stuff. Think coarse textured asphalt. If that's what ails you then maybe a cf stem might help a little.

It sounds like the issue is riding on truly beat up, pockmarked, cracked roads...in which case a stem being made of carbon prolly wont help. But a noodly stem, regardless of material, probably would help.

[Duende]

Interesting test. I'm curious just how much of a difference a carbon stem dampens over an aluminum one. I own a Giant Propel that has an extremely stiff front end and I went to carbon bars to help with the beating I take from riding on crappy roads. I've wondered if I would feel a difference if I went to a carbon stem.

Ditto that. The enve has me curious now. Have a Thompson x2. And it's great for my weight. I tend to torq on bars pretty good. Thinking that the enve might be able to handle my weight and provide some extra dampening too

[summilux]

Tests like this one remind me of Stereophile amplifier tests from the 90s where they measured THD and didn't bother listening to the amp in question.

Static load on a bike stem hooked up to a deflection meter ? This tells me how stiff a stem is when I ride rollers.

You want to report numbers? Do it right. Triplicates with SD. If you throw out your first measurement you are testing wrong.

[sjbraun]

I ride a Thomson x2 because the machining is beautiful. I like that you see it was something made, perhaps not solely by human hands, but at least under their guidance.

I can't imagine that a cf stem would dampen much that isn't already dampened by a carbon fork or 25mm tires.

[pdmtong]

I ride a Thomson x2 because the machining is beautiful. I like that you see it was something made, perhaps not solely by human hands, but at least under their guidance.

I can't imagine that a cf stem would dampen much that isn't already dampened by a carbon fork or 25mm tires.

buy a carbon bar for the shape/weight, not the damping
buy a carbon stem for the bling, not for the damping.
you want damping? pay attention to your fork, frame, tire pressure!

fwiw I like the thomson X2 for the same reasons...simple, machined, price effective, low stack. I also have raced one on my CX the past four years. zero slippage.

BTW people spending $550 on Moots RSL stems are NOT being influenced by tests like these.

[fogrider]

for me, I've had noodlely stems and it's down right scary on descents in the bay area! I would say somewhere around a deflection of 4.2mm would be the most I would find acceptable. I agree that measuring just the deflection of the stem doesn't tell the whole story, your stem's stiffness should be about the same as you fork, handlebar and frame. weight really doesn't matter here (because we're talk about so little weight) but I know I look at it...when you consider that the lightweight has great weight to stiffness ratio, but that's because the weight is so low, call it 90 grams, but the 3T is a very reasonable 130 grams and the deflection is less than 4mm but the lightweight is deflects more than 5mm. so for 40 grams, you get a stem that is prone to flex.

[zap]

Carbon damps high freq stuff. Think coarse textured asphalt. If that's what ails you then maybe a cf stem might help a little.



Earlier this year I swapped out a Time carbon stem for a Zipp Service Corsa SL al stem. I did not notice any difference in road feel. I kept the Zipp carbon handlebar so I suspect that is probably where most of the high frequency damping would occur.

I ride with no gloves, except when it's cold or very humid. Stem is a 120 (Klein has a longer tt than the norm).

For me, stem stiffness is important. I still have this desire to hammer up climbs fast in the big ring while in the drops. A lot goes into this-steerer stiffness and tt stiffness are likely significant contributors.

The Zipp stem feels like it has the same stiffness as the Time Monolink but will await final judgement when fitness improves and the weather warms up.

If I'm not mistaken, 11.x did some testing as well and posted that the 3T stem tested well-Thomson X4 was tops in stiffness. Hopefully he will post here as well.