safest stem?

What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike components, I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?

Callistus Valerius wrote:
What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike components, I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?

Seems to me that a stem is a good place to use some steel that's less
brittle than aluminum. Salsa makes a steel threadless stem that costs
about $40USD. Very nice stuff. Then again, I've got a stupid amount of
miles on aluminum stems without failure. Maybe I'm just not man enough
to wrench it apart. :sigh:

Callistus Valerius wrote:
What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike components, I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?


just buy an ordinary stem and replace it every 20k or so if you want to
be real safe. replace handlebars at the same time. use o/s
stem/handlebars of the highest quality you can afford too if you want to
be even safer. cold forged.

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:40:45 +0000, Callistus Valerius wrote:

What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike components, I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?

So, you have all this personal experience with the reliability of these
stems, but yet you are paranoid about them braking? Yes, I know that
stems have been known to break, and sometimes without the rider being
aware until it failed catastrophically. But this is a rare occurrence.
Certainly seat post failures are more common, and painful to contemplate.
Are you as paranoid about those? Forks can fail, cranks, etc. Usually
there are warning signs, if you will look for them. Do that, or give up
the sport as being too dangerous.

I sincerely doubt that there is a single stem that is unbreakable. Yes,
steel would be less likely to fail without obvious warnings, but then you
should also use steel cranks, seatposts, and forks by that logic.
Certainly cost does not correlate with failure risk, in fact some of the
most expensive are expensive precisely because they are lighter, hence
weaker.

Stuff happens, but it happens less if you watch for signs of cracking, and
listen for new creaks and other unusual noises. And yes, a broken stem can
cause a fall. But you can fall with a perfectly sound bike as well.

Relax and enjoy the ride.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I can
_`\(,_ | assure you that mine are all greater. -- A. Einstein
(_)/ (_) |

"Callistus Valerius" wrote in message
ink.net...
What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike components,
I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?



Probably something sexy and practical like this, available from any local
bike shop with a QBP catalog:
http://harriscyclery.net/page.cfm?Pa...ils&sku=SM9252

/sarcasm

landotter wrote:
Callistus Valerius wrote:
What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike components, I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?

Seems to me that a stem is a good place to use some steel that's less
brittle than aluminum. Salsa makes a steel threadless stem that costs
about $40USD. Very nice stuff. Then again, I've got a stupid amount of
miles on aluminum stems without failure. Maybe I'm just not man enough
to wrench it apart. :sigh:

Dude was riding a Fuji track bike, geared at 53x13 (in Atlanta's rolling
terrain). He was sprinting up a hill (faster than anyone around him,
mind you) and then this happened:
http://tinyurl.com/ycdg73
http://tinyurl.com/ydlwa7

\\paul

Callistus Valerius writes:

What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face
plate so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike
components, I always look at the stem as the most scary, as a
failure would be catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break
that looked a hell of a lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the
paranoia. I've ridden around a 100,000 miles and never had a
failure, and I have had two bolt and 4 bolt stems, and never a
failure or a crack in any of them. But is there such a thing as a
fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?

For non-quill stems, I would consider only ones with redundancy, such
as four bolt clamp plate and two stem clamp bolts. Without that one
bolt failure leaves the bicycle with a detached handlebar. In other
words, neither steering nor brakes. Not a recoverable situation
considering that such a bolt failure would be occurring at a stressful
instant.

Jobst Brandt

Paul Hobson wrote:


Dude was riding a Fuji track bike, geared at 53x13 (in Atlanta's rolling
terrain).

Slightly less steep than our Nashville hills, but still--that's a nutso
gear on the street. I ride 42x15 fixed around here and moan that I
gotta get a 16. Now I really feel inadequate. ;-)


He was sprinting up a hill (faster than anyone around him,
mind you) and then this happened:
http://tinyurl.com/ycdg73
http://tinyurl.com/ydlwa7

That looks like an absolute crap weld in the first place! Scary! I've
never had anything major break on a bike. [/me knocks on desk]

***
off topic:

While I got your attention, what's a good and fairly cheap place to
grab eats in Atlanta that's got some local flair? I'll be passing
through this spring and staying over by that new IKEA store.
Traditional southern is nice, but if there's international cuisine of
merit in the area, that's my cuppa as well. Hole in the wall sorta
place is preferred, and if it's just a shack with a window and a Coke
machine then it'll likely get 5 landotter stars! I'll eat anything from
decent vegetarian (hold the sprouts) to pork cracklins.

Shame I won't have room for a bike in the car, I'd have hooked up with
ya for a fixie tour de 'lanta. Five people in a Jetta, this should be
fun...

Paul Hobson wrote:
landotter wrote:
Callistus Valerius wrote:
What would be the safest threadless road stem out there, with a face
plate
so you don't have to remove the shifters etc? Of all the bike
components, I
always look at the stem as the most scary, as a failure would be
catastrophic. I've seen lots of metal sh*t break that looked a hell
of a
lot stronger than a bicycle stem, thus the paranoia. I've ridden
around a
100,000 miles and never had a failure, and I have had two bolt and 4
bolt
stems, and never a failure or a crack in any of them. But is there
such a
thing as a fail-safe one, with the specs I listed?

Seems to me that a stem is a good place to use some steel that's less
brittle than aluminum. Salsa makes a steel threadless stem that costs
about $40USD. Very nice stuff. Then again, I've got a stupid amount of
miles on aluminum stems without failure. Maybe I'm just not man enough
to wrench it apart. :sigh:

Dude was riding a Fuji track bike, geared at 53x13 (in Atlanta's rolling
terrain). He was sprinting up a hill (faster than anyone around him,
mind you) and then this happened:
http://tinyurl.com/ycdg73
http://tinyurl.com/ydlwa7

which is why i say stick to single-piece cold forged stems! [apart from
the clamp of course.]

landotter wrote:
Paul Hobson wrote:

Dude was riding a Fuji track bike, geared at 53x13 (in Atlanta's rolling
terrain).

Slightly less steep than our Nashville hills, but still--that's a nutso
gear on the street. I ride 42x15 fixed around here and moan that I
gotta get a 16. Now I really feel inadequate. ;-)

He's since switched to 48x15 having learned the benefits of a higher
cadence (shakes head)

He was sprinting up a hill (faster than anyone around him,
mind you) and then this happened:
http://tinyurl.com/ycdg73
http://tinyurl.com/ydlwa7

That looks like an absolute crap weld in the first place! Scary! I've
never had anything major break on a bike. [/me knocks on desk]

Yeah. That was our assessment as well. Still, dude's an animal. He's
about 5' 9" - 10". Slender and not much taller than me...but massive
legs. He also lives off of coffee, candy, and the occasional beer.

***
off topic:

While I got your attention, what's a good and fairly cheap place to
grab eats in Atlanta that's got some local flair? I'll be passing
through this spring and staying over by that new IKEA store.

Ah, my old side of town (still where I commute to everyday).

Traditional southern is nice, but if there's international cuisine of
merit in the area, that's my cuppa as well. Hole in the wall sorta
place is preferred, and if it's just a shack with a window and a Coke
machine then it'll likely get 5 landotter stars! I'll eat anything from
decent vegetarian (hold the sprouts) to pork cracklins.

Trad. Southern:
-Bobby & June Country Kitchen on 14th St between Mecaslin St and State
St (this is right next to Atlantic Station/IKEA)
-Son's Place at Hurt St and Decatur Ave

Vegan/Black Hebrew Southern:
-Soul Vegetarian No. 2 on N. Highland between Ponce de Leon and North
Ave (a little pricey, but good!)

*Authentic* _Cuban_ sandwiches
-Kool Korner's on 14th and State St (*hole* in wall, take out only, but
damn good at $4.70 a piece after tax).

As a last resort, go to Eat's on Ponce. Bobby and June's is probably
right up your alley and damn close to where you'll be. The hours are
shifted kind of early (6am - 2pm?), so you definitely need to be there
by not long after "lunchtime." It's pretty busy, but you tend get
seated fairly quickly. I prefer Son's personally as it's more 'Soul'
food than 'Southern' (shades of gray, really), but much less convenient
to find. Also, if you end up spending too much money at IKEA, eat
there. It's dirt cheap and pretty alright too.

Shame I won't have room for a bike in the car, I'd have hooked up with
ya for a fixie tour de 'lanta. Five people in a Jetta, this should be
fun...

Question: how are you going to be getting anything home? I'm a student
a GA Tech (a few blocks from AS/IKEA), drop me a buzz off line for a
phone number if you get lost/whatever. (switch the words to numbers)
\\paul