dalava

How do you mount the handlebar onto this?

achoo

wut?

laserfj

Not sure where you're going with this.

Is it going to be a zip tie joke?

jsharr

As most bars are now oversized at the clamp area, you take off the face plate, insert the bar at a narrow point nearer to the bends and slide the wide part of the bar into the clamp, then reattach and tighten face plate.

https://ritcheylogic.com/media/File/0..._10_29_web.pdf

It appears they were thinking of getting 260 degrees of wrap around on the stem. Maybe they were thinking of your safety. Maybe they were thinking of kittens and puppies riding unicorns over a sparkly rainbow.

dalava

You can't easily mount a lot of the handlebars onto this stem because the front plate is not half-circle; so the opening for the bar to go into is much smaller than the standard 31.8mm. I know some people have to take their tape and shifters off to slide the bar into the stem.

mvnsnd

I'm no genius, but it looks like one just unscrews some bolts.

achoo

It's nowhere near as bad as an old single-bolt quill stem....

dalava

Why fix a problem that didn't exist? Is there some technical advantage in making the clamping this shape vs two half circles? We all have changed stems without having to take off bar tapes and shifters.

dalava

not quite.

topflightpro

That stem has been out for over a year now. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to use it.

jsharr

To them, it did exist: This revolutionary patented design starts with a bar clamp that wraps a full 260 degrees around the handlebar to distribute clamping stress more evenly through the handlebar, faceplate, hardware and stem body. The steer tube clamp uses three bolts and a curved slot to reduce clamp stress on the steer tube

dalava

Well, I am sure it's a problem for them so they can put some marketing spin on the solution.

MattFoley

I'm confused as to why this is confusing...

jsharr

canam73

Stem porn:

dalava

Exactly. What other stems require you to have a naked bar to mount?

jsharr

Almost every quill stem ever made? Not that big of an issue once installed. And you would only have to unwrap part of the tops on one side to get them off in must instances.

garciawork

I have a few of them, and its no big deal. How often to you completely wrap your bars before installing on your bike? I never have...

Elduderino2412

Seems like it would scratch up the handlebars when you slide it in or it could be problem for people that have 90 things mounted to their handlebars.
Either way it looks like a PITA

buffalowings

Uh..that's why we moved away from the quill stem, much to the dismay of Grant Peterson. This is de-evolution, a step back to when it was more complicated then it needed to be.

jsharr

Of my three road bikes, two have quill stems and one has threadless. There is much to be said for the suppleness of a vintage steel frame. I ride my 1980s Falcon of England more than I ride my 2005 Trek 1200 or my 1983 Cannondale ST500.

I love threadless and the ease that they offer in changing out stems, but I do not see this system as a huge hindrance. I bet with most bars, you can put them in this stem wrapped, or as noted, by unwrapping a small portion of one side of the bars.

I can see the advantage of having more supports and having a clamp that "clinches" a bit more than the traditional threadless stem does.

Am I going to rush out and buy one, no. Would I be upset if one came on my next bike, no.

MegaTom

Not gonna lie, I always thought this song was a Love & Rockets original....

Now that I know better, I'm not sure which one I like more.

dalava

My vote: Love and Rockets

jsharr

I first heard the song by Love and Rockets and had to have the album. Bought the import album of Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven from Bills Records and Tapes in Dallas and still have it today. Love my old vinyl (much like I love my old bikes). Then I discovered that L&R version was a cover and I too am not sure which one I like more.

jmX

My bars aren't generally wrapped all the way to the stem, and I've always had more than enough space to install the bars into the C260 stems without ever touching my bar tape. I have a couple of these.

The stems are very light, and I suppose a rare once in a lifetime faceplate bolt failure won't make you instantly face plant.