Stem Faceplate Question

David White said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable faceplate.
But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any benefit/cost to
the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not so worried about
weight here - more the practical matters. THanks.

4 bolt for redundancy then.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

In article <[email hidden]>,

David White said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable faceplate.
But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any benefit/cost to
the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not so worried about
weight here - more the practical matters. THanks.

Get the 4 bolt, also 2 on the pinch bolts to mount the stem to the fork.
If a bolt breaks (which is not uncommon) the stem or bars won't come
loose from the bike.

David White said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable faceplate.
But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any benefit/cost to
the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not so worried about
weight here - more the practical matters. THanks.

Not much difference at all functionally. With a four bolt stem, it's
sort of more of a chore to set up since you have to worry about all 4
bolts having the same engagement and torque, and 4 bolt also probably
makes it easier to mindlessly overtighten the bolts and mess up the
bars, at least in some cases.

David White <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable faceplate.
But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any benefit/cost to
the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not so worried about
weight here - more the practical matters. THanks.

Presumably 4 bolts places less stress on each bolt so they're less likely to
strip as it is and if they do then the redundancy comes in to play. Again,
another guess, 4 bolts = wider stem = stiffer stem ergo better steering
response???

David White said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable faceplate.
But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any benefit/cost to
the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not so worried about
weight here - more the practical matters. THanks.

Nope, just ways to make them different in the marketplace. I giggle
when I see some marketing as 'carbon hbar' designed...faceplate, yes,
torque properly with carbon or aluminum.

David White said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable faceplate.
But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any benefit/cost to
the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not so worried about
weight here - more the practical matters. THanks.

I prefer 2 bolt to 4 bolt only because it's quicker to adjust.

Kenny Post said:

Quoted message said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable
faceplate. But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any
benefit/cost to the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not
so worried about weight here - more the practical matters.

Quoted message said:

I prefer 2 bolt to 4 bolt only because it's quicker to adjust.

The reason for a 4-bolt cap is that, unlike most quill stems, when one
of two bolts breaks, the handlebar separates from the bicycle. This
is such a critical control element that there should be redundancy.
That means two stem clamp bolts and four bar retention clamp bolts.

I have had a quill (Cinelli) stem bar clamp bolt break and a stem
expander bolt (aluminum was the rage) break and still had control.
That would not be so without redundant retention on a threadless stem.

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

Kenny Post said:

Quoted message said:

Hi. I am new to threadless stems and those with a removable
faceplate. But I have to buy one for a project now. Is there any
benefit/cost to the 4 bolt versus 2 bolt faceplate design? I am not
so worried about weight here - more the practical matters.

Quoted message said:

I prefer 2 bolt to 4 bolt only because it's quicker to adjust.

The reason for a 4-bolt cap is that, unlike most quill stems, when one
of two bolts breaks, the handlebar separates from the bicycle. This
is such a critical control element that there should be redundancy.
That means two stem clamp bolts and four bar retention clamp bolts.

I have had a quill (Cinelli) stem bar clamp bolt break and a stem
expander bolt (aluminum was the rage) break and still had control.
That would not be so without redundant retention on a threadless stem.

I posted this photo sometime back.

http://www.midweekclub.ca/temp/itm_stem_failure1.jpg

i suppose a bolt and can break, but in this case the "ear" the bolt
passes through is breaking away. my guess is that faceplate designs
with prominent lobes are more likely to experience this kind of
failure.

-Amit