Mountain Biking - Quality stem manufacturers

I am thinking about changing my stem out, and I wanted some opinions from you guys as to what the best manufacturers are. Also, at what point do I need to worry about the strength vs. weight of a stem? I found a stem on adrenalinebikes.com made by FSA and it weighs only 125 g. Can something that light be reliable on a mountain bike?

Thanks for your help!

Thompson.

+ 1 for Thompson.

Buy a Thomson . Lightweight , strong , and priced right .

Thomson's always a good choice. Although, I went with the Race Face SYStem.

http://www.neebu.net/%7Ekhuon/albums/1999-k2-ozm/PICT0034.jpg

It's no longer made but they still make some nice stems...

http://www.raceface.com/components/component-pop-ups/Deus-XC-Stem.jpg

http://www.raceface.com/components/component-pop-ups/Evolve-XC-Stem.jpg

Thomson's always a good choice. Although, I went with the Race Face SYStem.

http://www.neebu.net/%7Ekhuon/albums/1999-k2-ozm/PICT0034.jpg

It's no longer made but they still make some nice stems...

[/IMG] How well are your Cross-Links holding up ? Do you still like the ride ?

How well are your Cross-Links holding up ? Do you still like the ride ?

They're doing great. They were starting to get a little sloppy but after a seal and bearing replacement (it's been a few years since I last did one), they're back to normal. Only thing is I used up my last seal and bearing replacement kit. I'll have to stock up on some more.

I'm gonan be honest, I just don't focus much on the stem. There's very little weight to be saved there and something of decent quality should not break unles syou're going ultra-light.
Hell, my titus has some generic specalized stem. It serves me well. yeah, I culd get something lighter with similar strength, but I have better thinsg to do with my money.

cheapest thing I could get..

http://www2.bontrager.com/images/products/x-large/86978.jpg

tehhe

The ONLY reason i would ever upgrade my stem would be if i needed a differnt size or if i desperatley wanted ligher part and would upgrade to a super light stem.

I dont need to waste money on stems, i dont need to have a 'brand name stem' (because i know the bontrager stem posted above is better then half of the cheap eastern stems).

thomson, i wouldnt call it light per se, however i would call it the most reliable, strongest stem around

I am thinking about changing my stem out, and I wanted some opinions from you guys as to what the best manufacturers are. Also, at what point do I need to worry about the strength vs. weight of a stem? I found a stem on adrenalinebikes.com made by FSA and it weighs only 125 g. Can something that light be reliable on a mountain bike?

Thanks for your help!
I run a Thomson, but for a recent build of my wife's bike, I spec'd a Ritchey WCS stem. It was much cheaper than the Thomson, and was a mere 100g for a 90mm. That's weight-weenie light, but I would be fine riding it on my XC bike. I say use what's appropriate for the task. If you're worried about breaking stuff, get a Thomson or other similarly robust stem and suffer the 50g weight penalty. Strength vs. weight won't mean much if the 1/2 pound, early 90's crap aluminum stem develops a spiral fracture on a steep out-of-the-saddle climb and you pitch forward onto the jagged stub, tearing into your chest wall like a power auger into a peat bog.

+1 to Thomson unless you don't weigh much.

You can't get Thompsons that chreap here - can pick up FSA XC 140 cheap as on ebay - I am pretty sure that is strong enough, not the lightest one they do but 20-30 grams not going to kill me..

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I will be looking at a thompson. I'll post pics once I get it installed..

I've got a Ritchey stem, and it has worked for me

I probably wouldn't recomment Control Tech at this point. I use Easton now.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=191590

The ONLY reason i would ever upgrade my stem would be if i needed a differnt size or if i desperatley wanted ligher part and would upgrade to a super light stem.

True. The only reason I swapped out my stem was cause I wanted a shorter stem. So a friend of mine had a Soul Cycle's bar+stem combo (new) and i picked that up for $30...

I am thinking about changing my stem out, and I wanted some opinions from you guys as to what the best manufacturers are. Also, at what point do I need to worry about the strength vs. weight of a stem? I found a stem on adrenalinebikes.com made by FSA and it weighs only 125 g. Can something that light be reliable on a mountain bike?

Thanks for your help!

For a reliable stem there is nothing that beats a Thomson. However on my weight weenie bike I am using the FSA XC-115. It is very light and I have never noticed it. To me that is the best compliment for a component. If you don't notice it then it's doing it's job.

Thomson is the standard regurgitated anwer to this question. Yes, they're strong, yes they're good, but so are a lot of others. The Thomson Elite is definitely a nice stem, but it's beefy. Not heavy and pretty fugly because of its bulk. A lighter, better looking option is the Thomson X4, but that's only available in a 31.8 bar clamp size.

If you're looking for lightweight and reliable, I'd also consider the Race Face Deus mentioned earlier.