Originally Posted by
veggie_lover
I am playing devil's advocate here. Is it really that big a deal if the latch comes loose? The stem can still transfer load through the hinge and as long as you always ride with two hands firmly on the handlebars, it should not be a problem? Have there been any known injuries from such mechanisms coming loose?
Here is a thread where the latch was loose and due to the force transmitted through the hinge only, broke clean off. The rider was lucky it happened after he got off the bike moments before.
There is the pic of the failure in the thread. Note the misaligned sliding latch plate.