Weight Weenies

Just ordered a C260 stem and subsequently read a review regarding the installation. Seems the 260* wrap-around clamping section means installation works like an old quill-style stem, "threading" the naked bar through the stem, not just simply removing the faceplate and poping it in.

Has anyone managed to do this with a 3T Ergonova Team? I'm worried about clearing the fat, flat top section of the bar.

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Haven't tried with those bars specifically, but the Ritchey ergo bars go in. You do have to be rather creative on the installation of it, and it will require a bare handlebar. If you're planning on swapping out your cockpit a bunch, I would advise against it

I have this exact setup, C260 stem and Ergonova bars. On my set, the stem scratched the bars over the flat top section of the bars, mostly under the where the bar tape would go but some of the scratches would show. There was no way to install the stem without scratching the bars. This was with the stem and bars completely bare off the bike. I ended up removing all the paint from the bars, installing the stem and then clearing the bare carbon with the stem attached. Looks cool now bare but impossible to make any changes without ruining the finish.

That's what I was afraid of - thanks for the reply. I will send the stem back - I'm on a Vibe 7S and have no issues with it per se, just wanted to shave a little weight.

No problem. The stem is very light, got it down to 100g with Ti bolts for a 110mm length.

Sweet - that's where I wanted to get. My Vibe is 128g for 120mm length with Ti bolts. I like the Ergonovas too much to get rid of them just for a stem.

Try sanding the edges (of the stem) a little bit before you toss it out; just getting rid of some of the paint and rough edges may be enough to allow the bar a smooth passage and will help with limiting the amount of cuts, scratches etc. on the bar.

that stem did not scratch my zipp carbon sl 31.6 bars, i am not say that our bars are the same. I just took the tape off and turn it like the directions tell you to and go slow and it was good to go. the stem is light, i also have the 110 and it came in at 105 grams with the stock bolts.

HakeemT wrote:Try sanding the edges (of the stem) a little bit before you toss it out; just getting rid of some of the paint and rough edges may be enough to allow the bar a smooth passage and will help with limiting the amount of cuts, scratches etc. on the bar.

...not to mention putting some masking or other tape on bars at entry point to avoid scratching on these harder to fit bars. EM3

I had already sanded down my bars and re-clearcoated but managed to slip it on without scratching. I have the carbon wrap version and with ti bolts it is 117 for 120mm.

I had this stem for a little while. Decided it wasnt worth the risk of scratching the bars, so opted for the Extralite. 110mm comes in at 86g. New ultimate stem is supposedly pretty light as well.

Do you find the Extralite stiff "enough". Very subjective, but did you notice any decrease moving from the stem you had before?

The Deda Zero 100 weighs in at about the same and can be had for about $75. Personally I am running the Zipp Corse SL and got it down to about 110g w/ ti bolts and it cost me $70 (came in black as well). No way in hell the C260 would fit around my new ITM Pathom bar though.

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Just about to install this stem on some Ergonova LTD bars. As it happens I have some old, crashed Ergonova Team to practice on first. It seems that there is no way to install without scratching the paint at the interface between the oval and round sections. However it does just seem to take off a little paint rather than damage the carbon, I think because the paint on this bar is actually remarkably thick. Should be possible to cover the scratched part with bar tape in any case. I'm hoping that the paint on the LTDs might be a little thinner..

I'm wondering whether to use some 3rd party Ti bolts. On the one hand I've seen comments suggesting that because these are narrower than normal bolts using Ti ones is inadvisable. On the other hand, it strikes me that 1) in the unlikely event a bolt did snap while riding as opposed to while installing, it's unlikely that the other bolts would all shear at the same time, and 2) even if that did happen, in fact the design of this stem means that the bars would still be held even if the faceplate came off due to the 260 degree clamp (although they would rotate downwards which of course might cause a crash). It might actually be a remarkably safe design for that reason. Thoughts?