Bimdapogs

Are Ti stems more prone to slippage compared to Al or CroMo? There has been a couple times when my bars slipped on my Cinelli grammo stem and the thought of flying over the bars and losing some teeth is pretty scary! I came accross an Ibis ti stem and thought I'd try it to see if it would hold the bars better with a wider clamp area and was also hoping it'd be stiffer than the grammo but my bars (Cinelli TOP 64) would still slip (and it's even more flexy!). I also tried Cinelli Eubios bars on both stems but same thing happens. Any advice to fix this problem would be appreciated!

For the record, both stems and bars have 26.0 clamp diameter.

I've yet to try:
1. Using lapping compound
2. Sanding contact surfaces

Also, with the stems being Ti, should I apply grease to avoid galling or would this make the contact surface slip more?

I'm thinking of pulling out a CroMo stem from another bike but Ti would be preferred to match my frame..

Thanks for your help!

Bianchigirll 

I am not sure you can use a lapping compound on Ti. I also think a lapping may defeat the purpose here.

I think if anything you may want to go with finding a machine shop who will knurl or stipple the inside of the stem and outside of the bars.

have you check with your dealer for a recall? If there is a similar AL stem have you tried using that faceplate?

Is the few grams of weight your saving worth the aggravation?

Bimdapogs

Weight is not really the issue. Like I said, my frame is Ti so a Ti stem would be more ideal, just my preferred look of my bike.

Cinelli grammo and Ibis quill stems don't have removable faceplates, unfortunately..

Grand Bois

I think the point is to increase friction by applying lapping compound to the contact surfaces.

Bianchigirll 

And leaving it there? As grit?

Grand Bois

Don't they use something similar on CF?

Ex Pres 

Like this?

FSA Carbon Assembly Installation Compound

FSA Installation Compound prevents carbon components from slipping.

For carbon and aluminum components

Installation Compound
�Does not harden or dry out
�Tiny little plastic beads floating in gel paste
�Recommended by carbon mfgs
ORM-D: No

dddd

Yes, ti is inherently slippery in contact with other metals. It is also very sensitive to stress risers, so anything beyond a light sanding of the inside of the clamp might make it more crack-prone.

One of my bike came with a rare TTT ti stem, and the owner had stripped the clamp bolt threads, probably while trying to eliminate bar clamp slipping.

I have successfully used grinding dust mixed in with the grease to prevent seatpost slipping.

Titanium can't gall against aluminum, but galling commonly happens when ti parts are in forceful contact with one another.