I know this has probably be done to death but I’m after views and experiences of people who have actually run Ti bolts on their stems, what type of riding they do with this set up and how they found them? I have ordered a load of Ti bolts from Pro Bolt and I’m looking at putting some on my Thomson X4 stem, my main riding is Quantocks so their is some rocky/rooty descents with river crossings which can put quite a bit of pressure on the bars/stem area as you slam through them, also some drops and small jumps. They will be on a 140mm travel bike and I like to ride fast with no finess!

I’ve had ti bolts on my stem for years, but I’m a jey boy riding a short travel XC bike. If you’ve got an X4 stem on a 140mm travel bike, ti bolts are totally pointless IMHO – you won’t ever notice the weight you save.

If you’ve got an X4 stem on a 140mm travel bike, ti bolts are totally pointless IMHO – you won’t ever notice the weight you save.

This, 100%. Waste of money.

I have used them for years on all my bikes, but all of the XC persuasion.

I know its a bit of a waste of money, but want it for bling and corrosion resistance. I only have 1 bike and spend all my money on it so its top spec. So I’m after advice as wether I will be face planting in the near future or wether they will last? Pro bolt say they are the same strength as high tensile steel.

corrosion resistance – stainless steel is what yo want then.

I’ve been running a Salsa stem with Ti bolts on my CX bike and more recently on the MTB, haven’t been holding back on the downhills although still strictly ‘XC’ without too many jumps or nasty landings.

Held up fine, had no reason to believe they wouldn’t?

Ti bolts on both road and XC MTB for a couple of years, no problems.

Cheers for all the input so far, anyone out their running them on a bike they ride hard?

Aye, have an x4 with ti bolts, its been on a few bikes that get jumped and hucked although i’m not exactly Sam Hill. They creak terribly if they are coming loose. Not broken one yet.

Cheers stuart thats the sort of thing I want to hear to boost my confidence with putting them on my bike, just have to listen out for the creaking then! I may just loctite them in.

i’ve ran ti bolts on every bike ive owned since 2003 ( in excess of 15 ) , on light weight xc , singlespeed , downhill , trail & 4x . never had one fail

Had TI bolts on my DH bike a few years ago on my direct mount sunline stem and had no problems at all and I wasn’t a lightweight back then.

Nice to hear all these positive experiences of Ti bolts on stems, went for pro bolt so to get best possible quality. All of your experiences are going towards me focus on the trail ahead and not wondering about my stem security!

have got ti bolts in my thomson stem, they have done everything from commuting to riding the alps, they’ve been in it for well over a year and are still going strong.
do agree that they may be perceived as a waste of money, but they do finish off the stem nicely IMO, depends if you’ve got the cash to splash..

Cheers BMC09, already purchased from pro bolt, should arrive tomorrow just wanted some of you to give me confidence to put them on my stem. This is all helping me.

Just bumping this to see if their are any other experiences of Ti bolts on roughly riden bikes.

corrosion resistance – stainless steel is what yo want then.

Never heard of crevice corrosion then…

I managed to pick up loads of Ti M5 bolts from an F1 team. I have them on 7 different bikes,everything from the jump bike to the xc single speed.
None have broken on the stems or anywhere else they are used.However, they are high quality and some of the Ti bolts on ebay etc are total crap and may not be as strong.

Cheers on and on, thats one reason why I went with pro bolt as they are the best I can source and they make them for motor sports as well. I wouldn’t trust the ebay bolts either.

Depending on the grade, stainless is typically the same tensile strength as 8.8 steel so not actually that strong.

but – the creaking is probably due to the lower modulus of Ti versus steel allowing more movement.

Pro Bolt are no better, nor worse than most Ti bolt people out there. Well, better than any uber cheap tat on ebay for sure, but they’re just generic off the shelf titanium bolts for the most part.

They’re only just round the corner from where I used to work, and one day a few years ago I popped in as I was in need of some longer M6 bolts to hold my front brake on. They only supply Ti, so that’s what I had to buy. Nice, but totally pointless on a Mountain Bike really, certainly if it’s not an uber weight weenie XC race machine at least. Just by swapping your Thomson X4 to a Ritchey or KCNC stem you’ll save yourself 50g or more, about 45g more than the Ti bolts will save you!

So you’ve ordered the bolts, then you get the opinions?

You’d be better off replacing what you can with aluminium, will save more weight, more bling as you can have interesting colours and it’s far far cheaper than doing everything in ti.

I had Ti bolts on my stem but have changed them back on the advice of the bike store I use who also have an engineering arm. They have witnessed failures over the years and the consequences are not good. I use them elsewhere though but just thought why run the risk.

Steel bolts can break too. If ti is good enough for planes and what not it’ll do me for a stem. IMO it’s more likely that your handlebars will break than a stem bolt go.

I have received my bolts from Pro Bolt and I can say the quality is outstanding, much better than any other Ti bolts I have seen and handled. I agree njee20 that they seem to use Ti bolts in a lot of situations which will put more stress on them than riding over rough stuff fast and out of control! They use them for engine mounts in the veron and plenty other cars and their must be plenty of stress going on their! Anymore first hand views would be welcome.

they may use them on the Veryon engine mounts but that is because they are sized and stress checked for that application by the engineers who design the car. If using a steel bolt they may have gone smaller diameter but would have still been a bit heavier and they couldnt claim to have Ti engine mount bolts.

no problem on my thomson stem, (all mountain bike) bit soft though so if you change your set up alot you will eventually ruin the heads. Use antilock as well. they look super bling btw.

Cheers for all the input much appreciated.

biggest bonus is bling and no rust, not weight especially if you do all mt

Play safe and buy yourself a shiny necklace.

If you’ve got an X4 stem on a 140mm travel bike, ti bolts are totally pointless IMHO

I’ve always assumed ti/ali bolts were a “free” upgrade, with nearly everything else on the bike losing weight compromises DH/tech/gnarr/whatever-ability, tyres, wheels, brakes etc losing weight from them normally deteriorates grip braking etc.
Assuming they don’t break bolts should be no compromise

pricey way to save grammes tho

oh and I guess I should say the only bolts I’ve “upgraded” to date are ali/plastic bottle boss ones.

The standard stem bolts on orange five pro (stalk stuff) look shocking after a few months. we ride pretty hard in the peaks and lakes. Didnt want to pay probolt money like my mates. got some at a good price from RaceTi.com and they look the same.
the weight saving is great but mostly they look cool.
no problems and they have been on a while.

titanium is at least as strong as most steel bolts but watch out!
High tensile bolts shouldnt be replaced with titanium as they are not as strong. these are stamped on the head as 12.9 I wouldnt risk replacing these but there isnt any on a five.
titanium is a bit softer too so it is important that you get decent ones or else the allen key can round off.