ryanspeer

Has anybody had Ritchey products described to them unflatteringly as being "too flexy"? I've always respected Ritchey gear since my MTB days of yore when Ritchey was on the cutting edge (I still consider them to be), but I was in a bike shop yesterday picking some stuff up and admiring some bars, when a salesman I don't know or have any history with advised me to stay away from Ritchey bars, stems and posts because they're "too flexy". I have a Ritchey Pro stem on my Tarmac and have no issues whatsoever with it, but have never had Ritchey bars or post before. Has anybody else experienced "flex" issue with them, or is this another story to chalk to LBS BS?

I suspect it's a pile of BS from a shop employee who considers himself more intelligent than he really is, but can be persuaded otherwise from those with actual bonafide experience. I've been considering some WCS bars and post but am temporarily holding off.

So . . . what's the consensus?

barba

I have a Ritchey pro stem that I can't imagine flexing. Don't many pro teams use Ritchey stems and bars?

I do have a WCS seat post that I am less fond of however.

El Diablo Rojo

I just swaped out my Deda Newton bar/stem set up for a Ritchey WSC bar/stem set up and so far I'm really dig'n them. They don't feel flexy at all. My ex-teammate is the one who convinced me to try them and this guy is really really strong. Not just bike strong but physically strong and he's never complained about the stiffness of the bar or stem.

barba

I think a lot of people talk about flexing stuff to sound tough.

chipcom 

I've got Ritchey stem and bars on my touring bike...if it don't flex for my fat, but beefy strong (yes, smell too) bod, with a loaded handlebar bag to boot, I'd think you're safe.

CastIron

B.S.
Frankly I'm at a loss when folks talk about stems being 'flexy'. Really, the lever is going to move before the fulcrum. So bars? Sure. Seat posts? Perhaps. Stems? Not bloody likely.

clutchy

my father in law was also talking about his ritchey stem being flexy... I can't imagine a stem actually "flexing" so i'm kind of at a loss to recommend something else to him. Easton? deda?

he's not a big guy...

El Diablo Rojo

I've used Deda Newton stems for the last 4 years and found them to be great. I used them when I was 185lbs and now at 145. My current set up with the Ritchey's is WSC logic bars 26.0 42cm cc. Ritchey WSC stem 120mm. I've done all out sprints and hard out of the saddle climbs with no noticable flexing. My guess is that he is feeling his underinflated tires or fork flex before the stem.

brianallan

It's strange actually. I have a WCS Stem + Bars and they seem pretty rigid. However I was at a shop last week and my friend was like "Psh ritchey.." and put a bit of weight on the bars. They flexed really badly. Conclusion: Don't rule out people's opinions. They might actually have a basis in reality!

clutchy

yeah, he lives like 60 miles away so i haven't had a chance to see what he's talking about.


tires were my first impression too. Although he just got a scott CR1 pro coming from a 90 something aluminum vitus with 75k miles on it... Maybe he's used to a quill stem... who knows we'll figure it out eventually...Thanks for the reference on the deda stuff.

ElJamoquio

My WCS bars flex. So what?

El Diablo Rojo

The only time I've seen any noticeable flex in any bar/stem combo was while on the trainer. The bike is locked down and the forces are directly transferred through the bars. While on the road the bike is free to move from side to side so it's less of an issue.

brianallan

Climbing or sprinting in a race setting with flex kind of sucks

Jim Bonnet

I have a ritchey pro stem with comp bars.. no flex..
I also have a 4axis stem with streem carbon bars.. no flex..

ymmv

ElJamoquio

Why? It's not an inch of travel, it's ~0.25 inch.

DannoXYZ 

Have you measured how much force your arms exert on the bars in a sprint? Have you actually measured how much the bar-ends flex?

Yes, it's true that the stem itself doesn't move much, it just twists. But each degree of twist allows the bar-ends to move a certain amount. The stiffer the stem, the less the bar rotates around the axis of the stem.

That said, the Ritchey stuff doesn't really flex any more than other equipment out there. The only thing that's really noticeably stiffer are the one-piece carbon bar+stem combos. Making something that stiff out of alloy or steel would result in a pretty harsh ride IMO. And I'm not sure what benefits you'd get from removing the existing flex from stems & bars anyway. I doubt you'd go much if any faster.

ryanspeer

So . . . some say no measurable/noteworthy flex whatsoever, and others say that there is. The nature of alloy is to flex a little bit considering that you're throwing your weight at it when attacking a climb or something, but I guess my next question would be wouldn't ALL bars flex a bit when you're attacking something like a climb? Whether it's from Deda, Easton, Specialized, etc.? I just have a hard time bringing myself to believe that Ritchey products flex SO MUCH MORE SO than others.

Opinions on that, anyone? I'm genuinely curious. Perhaps not so much that I'll avoid Ritchey (again, I LOVE my Pro 110mm 31.8 stem), but curious enough that I could possibly be persuaded against them.

On that note, are they even WORTH being persuaded against?

El Diablo Rojo

All I can do is give you my real world experience with Ritchey and Deda. I switched about three weeks ago from Deda Newton (anatomic bend 44cm cc) bar/stem to Ritchey WSC Logic bars (26.0/42cm cc) and WSC stem (120mm). I have found no decernable difference in the amount of flex between these two systems.

Namenda

I have Ritchey Pro bars, stem, and seatpost (the post is carbon-wrapped). I don't notice any flex whatsoever in any of these components. And, if it matters, I'm >200 lbs.

ryanspeer

Thanks guys. This kind of cements my original opinion that the guy from the LBS may have been a bit too cocky with his opinions. I encountered that with one or two other guys at the same shop. Cool shop, but kind of cocky guys sometimes.

clutchy

some guys forget that they shouldn't be measuring their dick against yours but should be giving you neutral information so you can decide.

Nessism

Yes, bars and stems flex. Some people are more sensitive to the movement than others. And some bars and stems are stiffer than others also.


I've used Ritchey bars/stems/seatposts for years and find them good quality parts for a reasonable price. In my experience the Comp parts tend to be a little stiffer since they have more metal in them and WCS is mostly bling (not that there is anything wrong with that).

fogrider

I love ritchey stuff...I have a ritchey frame and fork with a ritchey steel stem and alloy seatpost, all great stuff. I got a ritchey wcs stem for another bike and mated it with a carbon kestrel bar...the bar is stiff, the stem flexed. I kept it the stem on there are tryied to live with it. but there are lots of little climbs here in san francisco and on hte small climbs, I like to power up them...the flexing drove me nuts! it felt unsafe, its not that the stem was going to break, but the lack of control...I want to point the bike and have the bike follow. and riding around the city it helps to be able to ride around potholes and such. I think that there were certain years the wcs stuff was really light and a little more flexly.

DannoXYZ 

Yeah, I encountered a lot of those cocky guys in the 10-years I worked in a shop. They're so annoying. However he wasn't completely wrong, bars & stems do flex. His mistake was in saying that the Ritchey stuff is more or less flexible than anything else out there and it's really not (it's actually about mid-range). Here's an example of bar+stem flex:



With a stationary frame-of-reference (like fixed on a trainer and stationary ground), the flex is quite noticable. I'm only using my arms & shoulders, haven't even gotten my back or legs into it yet. When you're on the bike and sprinting, this flex results in some lateral aiming and movement causing you to weave a sine-wave type path. You don't notice the flex because it's washed out in the bike-lean and wobble. But I do notice different behaviors with differnet levels of front-end stiffness. It doesn't make a bit of difference in speed, but control is much, much better with a stiff front-end. Going to a threadless large-diameter stem really improved the front-end control in a sprint.

Someone once posted a head-on photo of some guys in a sprint and it showed a tremendous amount of flexing in the handlebars, fork, wheels and frame. If anyone has that photo, please post it.

VT to CA

I have a WCS 4-Axis stem... it definitely flexed... after I drove it into a granite cliff wall with a pneumatic gun and hung a Humvee off it with a steel cable...

Seriously, I can't imagine it EVER flexing. It's really stiff...