I am getting a FSA K-Wing real soon (slightly used for a great price)! I need to switch stems because my current bar is not oversized. I wanted to get a nice FSA stem, for satisfy the OCP in me, but I notice they are expensive!

Question: Are the $80+ stems better than the $20 ones at performance (Forte?)



The cheapest FSA stem in the OS-170 and I can get it locally for $45...I may go that route so the brand matches.

BTW, weight is not super important to me.

Please advise!

The noname brand stems will you do fine.

A stem's a stem.

I'd go for the $45 stem if that's what you want. It's just a stem after all.

What about checking ebay or something?

I was talking to my friend the other day about my latest Probikekit order.. he asked incredulously, "You're paying $25 for a bike handlebar pole thingy?"

As the others have said, a stem's a stem..

you should check out E bay I just got a ritchie pro stem for $28 including shipping ,weighed in at 152 grams. I noticed they had a lot of FSA stems listed.

FSA K-Force Carbon stem would look nice with that bar. $$$ though.

Thomson X2 stems on ebay can be had for 40 or so if you are patient. Ritchey WCS are nice too and are not that expensive. The K-Force is crazy expensive though.

The Ritchey WCS 4 Axis is a nice stem, about as light as you can get and looks really nice ;-). Generally available on ebay for $60 new. The older WCS stem is not as nice (the clamp is much more of a pain in the a** what with being 2 separate parts) but is also very light, strong and probably quite cheap as it was just discontinued.

Ira

No-one, and I mean no-one has ever mentioned that I have a $30 Forte stem on my Cannondale R1000. I think since the frame and bars are matte black, unless you really look, you can't even notice it.

It was on-sale, I needed a stem, and I believe its about as light as any of the $80 stems that Performance had at the time, maybe there are more expensive lighter ones, maybe there are lighter ones for $80, but for $30, you can't go wrong. The beauty is, if you decide you want a different size, rise, or whatever, your only out $30.

Buyer beware, mine came as a 10 degree rise/drop, not 7/8 or whatever it was that was advertised. Slightly more agressive or slightly more elevated depending how you hang it.