Anyone on here using one, are they worth the money?

*pulls up a chair*

I quite like the look of them and they’re light for their burliness too. A bit funny to fit apparently.

*waits for users to reply*

Worth every penny if you like lovely cnc pimpness. The stem itself seams to offer no real advantages other than being reasonably light, but even then you can get a kcnc stem for half the price that is lighter still. Fitting is not quite as easy but removing the bars is much more awkward because you have to unbolt the stem from the steerer. I run mine without a stem cap n star nut to save weight so clearly it clamps the steerer nicely.

I’ve got one. It’s dead light, looks great and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever 🙂

Light,stiff and made in England
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IMG_3494 by StuE1, on Flickr[/img]
Not hard to fit just different

Got one too. It’s a stem: connects bars to fork. Looks nice. Seems to clamp the bars very securely. Changing bars is slightly more complicated than a conventional stem as you’ve got to remove the whole top half of the stem. Not a big issue though.

To be honest you’re very unlikely to notice the difference between any £20 stem and the Renthal, but I’m happy to be running it.

It does smell of gimmick… I like renthal, been using their kit on motorbikes for years but I’m not convinced by these things. I’d bet money that the key design objectives was “Make it stand out” and that ended up higher up the whiteboard than “Make it strong” “Make it light” “Make it easy to use” etc.

Not really a faff to fit. It’s not as if you’ll be changing stems and bars every ride. As others say, scarily light and beautifully made. I’ve just bought the fatbars too but haven’t got round to fitting them.

I run mine without a stem cap n star nut to save weight so clearly it clamps the steerer nicely.

😯

I got the stem cheap and first thoughts were that it doesn’t look that strong with little metal beneath the bars but in use it’s rock solid with plenty of width where it counts clamping bar. The fitting is a little awkward in that you need to set the bar angle before clamping the steerer. It’s not worth the £80 they ask and I wouldn’t have paid. It is up there with the best it’s just a shame they don’t offer other lengths and rise.

I run mine without a stem cap n star nut to save weight so clearly it clamps the steerer nicely.

Its all good … saves weight and allows you to play I spy through my hollow steerer tube …

no stem cap? 😯 i am not sure that is good idea as the stem clamp allows you to load the headset bearings properly, and at the end of the day holds your fork on. if it was a good idea and saved weight then why doesnt anyone else do it?

and at the end of the day holds your fork on. if it was a good idea and saved weight then why doesnt anyone else do it?

No, the stem holds your fork on. The top cap is for preloading the bearings only. Most MTBers leave the top cap on because it looks neater and you can tighten your headset up in the middle if nowhere if you need too, but plenty of weight weenies remove them, as they serve no purpose once the stem is tightened up. 🙂

It a bit inconvienient. I use a nice long bit of threaded bar with 2 nuts and washers to tension the bearings. For a 4x bike this doesn’t matter as the tool is always in my car but it wouldn’t be a very good idea on a xc bike unless you carry around a hope head doctor or something which would defeat the point! Once you have tighted the stem you remove the threaded bar. The stem should provide all the clamping force to keep the stem in place, the top cap is for the initial tensioning and as a backup safety device incase the stem bolts break. I’m not sure ti bolts would be a good idea for this setup just incase.

how much does a stem cap and star nut weight, about 20g?

has anyone else clicked on stuE’s link to his flickr profile above? not safe for work if you do!

*watches stuE’s stats go through the roof*

I actually really like that design. Not seen them before.

Makes a lot more sense than a faceplate with 4 bolts.

As for no top cap – if you are in the situation where you are relying on your top cap bolt to keep your forks and bars attached to the bike you are going to be in trouble very quickly anyway.

recently installed a Renthal Duo stem on one of my mountain bikes, not as complicated to install as you might assume, but requires a more logical approach and ideally the use of a torque wrench!

got an Easton Haven stem on the other mountain bike

both mountain bikes previously had Thomson X4 stems

with wider bars (Renthal 750mm) both the Renthal and Easton stems feel noticeably stiffer when cranking hard on the bars than the Thomson X4

until I moved beyond 720mm bars I did not notice any flexure with the Thomson X4 stems (I’ve owned several)

the Renthal 50mm weighs: 146gm
the Easton 55mm weighs: 136gm
the Thomson 50mm weighs: 178 gm

Renthal is a very tidy bit of kit, and British made, which is a bonus as far I am concerned!