Second version (revised) of the "death stem any safer?
 

I just acquired a stem/handlebar assembly for the campy barcons, mafac racer levers and white hoods on it.. Looked like it had a death stem in the listing. Once it got here I took a closer look and it looks just like this one without the AVA etched on the clamp.

http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.as...e8098&Enum=102

If you look at Velobase's listing of the original one, they said the revised version was a lot safer. This one has no AVA etching and the expander slot at the back so maybe a different mfg. I wasn't planning on using it but still nice to know I could.

FWIW I've looked at (and replaced when
convenient) a lot of these over the years.

I know a lot of what you see credits moving
the expansion slots with making them safer,
and that may very well be true.

But there are other differences in various
incarnations that seem to affect their overall
durability. Some of them seem to be much
thicker in the lower stem wall than others,
so they must have changed the molding/
machining process. Also some seem to fit
the steerer tube in which you find them
better than others.

On more than one occasion, I've encountered
a used bike with one of these installed that
seemed to have significant play back and forth
in the steerer or at the intersection with the
headset top nut. My own feeling is that would
obviously lead to a flexing failure down the line,
so when I had nothing in the proper diameter
for replacement, I would shim them at this
point with aluminum sheet stock (usually from
beer cans, sometimes from roof flashing which
is thicker.)

I still have one of these in a PX 10 that gets
ridden regularly in better weather. It is the
thicker one and has been shimmed.

Some of the older Raleighs seem to be prime
offenders. They sourced many of these for
the lower end stuff when the French components
were cheaper, and the headsets seem to be
a little large for the stem diameter they used.
Just my impressions. I claim no encyclopedic
knowledge in this area.

Respectfully,
Mike Larmer