Originally Posted by
SuperLJ
I wasn't trying to denigrate the experience you had with your stem, it's just that I had never heard anything but good things about these. AVA? Pivo? Sure, but not Philippe. To me, it seems maybe a little extreme to label these as "death stems" because, out of the many thousands that were produced (a good many of which are still in use), yours broke.
Personally, I've always had trouble with vintage high-end Italian stuff. Broken crank arms, poor shifting, wimpy brakes, etc. You know what gives me the willies? Let's talk about the Cinelli 1R!
Funny, I've seen Pivo models that are OK - I actually have one here that I can post a pic of tomorrow, for reference.
Quite frankly, I just approach all French aluminum bits with suspicions of durability, unless it's something that has a fantastic and well-known reputation - such as TA's Pro 3 or Pro 5 crankarms. I must say that I
really want to have an opportunity to work on a Singer or Herse someday though; I'd like to know what these constructeur parts feel like to work with (excellent, I hope).
You have a great point about Italian bits though - I probably haven't been exposed to enough of their low-end stuff. Can't complain about classic Campagnolo Record sidepulls though - believe it or not, they work even better with upright-bar brakes. I'd put a pair on a Raleigh Sports if they had the reach
I won't dispute that the Cinelli 1R is a worrysome beast. I have two - one came in a parts lot on a Giro bar, and I'm not about to use it. The other came on my '78 Raleigh Pro, and the only reason it hasn't been swapped is because of the leather stitched bars which I'm afraid of undoing.
-Kurt