A beautiful stem? Appreciate your stems here

older ones look better:

Best looking stem ever:

i got a couple of 3T mutant in red, found them in a shop. they look much better in the flesh. they polish up nicely too, thick paint rather than anodizing

I'm not actually after a 'beautiful' stem, just a recommendation for a good one at a price point.There's a recommend me a stem thread, but it's empty, so I thought I'd keep it here.

Criteria:

90mm OS
Light
Stiff
Decent quality
Black
Not too expensive
Not a Thomson

I wanted one of the Deda Zero's from Ribble for £20, but they're out of stock. There's a white one on ebay, which would probably work with my colour scheme, but I always thing think they look a bit naff.

Any other top choices in the sub £30 region?

Also I am obviously looking at the 2nd hand ones on ebay.

Cheers.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Easton-EA90-Alloy-Bicycle-Handlebar-Stem-90mm-31-8mm-/120721063497

Should go for less than £30.

Cheers. It's already saved to watch list ;)

The ritchey ones seem to generally be recommended, but the cheap ones all seem to be in colours.

I'm not actually after a 'beautiful' stem, just a recommendation for a good one at a price point.There's a recommend me a stem thread, but it's empty, so I thought I'd keep it here.

Any other top choices in the sub £30 region?

Ive got a USE Race for sale. OS black 90mm 8deg. Mint condition. Id be looking for around £40 for it tho.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=13693&utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=Google-Products-UK
Colin

http://www.liverydesigngruppe.com/product/c-stem-fillet-brazed

Cheers. It's already saved to watch list ;)

I have an EA90. Bloody nice stem, widely popular, even over the Easton carbon offerings.

KCNC gives good 'bang for buck'
https://clee-cycles.co.uk/cc/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/27_66/products_id/491?osCsid=sk31atkpc0g8ti80bqhbi0tve0

Nice looking and solid stem from 3T
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/3t-arx-pro-90mm-road-stem-id43279.html

Bargin Ritchy 4-axis (very light for its stiffness).
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/STRIWCS4A/ritchey-wcs-4axis-stem

Classic planet x stem ( I have a load of different On-one stems, do a good job, at a good price).
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/STPX3DF/planet-x-superlight-team-3d-forged-stem

£99 for a Ti stem.......

wraps self in flameproof blanket

Why would anyone want a Ti stem?
Aluminium can be made into a stem which is lighter, stiffer, and cheaper.

Tis shiney though.

Hugo7. Of those four stems I posted the ritchey is probably the best. But they are all very decent. If it were me I'd just buy one to match my handlebars* and possibly seatpost.

(*there is a theory (or at least used to be) that keeping to the same brand for stem and bars, can give a better clamp)

Easton EA30 £15

I got this http://www.wiggle.co.uk/3t-arx-team-alloy-oversized-road-stem/

not beutiful but i like the look of it with my bike matches other red on blac bits

http://www.liverydesigngruppe.com/product/c-stem-fillet-brazed

that is nice, prefer the tigged though

The ritchey ones seem to generally be recommended, but the cheap ones all seem to be in colours.

I have a spare ritchey in silver, looks pretty classic, 1 1/8 aheadset i would sell cheap.

PM if interested.

Cheers for all the feedback. I was waiting to see if I won this Deda Zero (£25).

d,Fq+BNvw0-RM(Q~~_12.JPG)

I think the Ritchy would have been the ideal, both for looks, aesthetic fit and quality, but WW listing has the the Zero coming in at sub 130g, and the colour is cool.

EDIT:

Altho, now I've just found this for £20, which would have been more sensible.

I have that Deda Zero 1 and reckon it's one of the best looking 'regular' stems I've come across. The finish is nice and glossy so suits more when matched with black painted frames etc rather than when the only other black on a bike is anodized stuff.

I think the Ritchy would have been the ideal, both for looks, aesthetic fit and quality, but WW listing has the the Zero coming in at sub 130g, and the colour is cool.

The Ritchey 4-axis is listed as sub 120g (just). Its a popular WW chioce. The Deda zero comes in two versions. The standard one you are looking at, and a 'servizio corse' version which has Ti hardware, and is lighter than the Ritchey.

A lot of racers partner the Zero with a Newton bar. For a good balance of weight and stiffness. So it cant be bad.

Worth noting that at 90mm all the forementioned stems will be stiff. When you consider how close the weights are too, you might as well pick the prettiest.

Definitely.

It's for my Condor pista, which is only really for london riding, so I'm hardly wrenching the bars off around the alps. But, stems just seem like one of those parts, where you can now get something decent without braking the bank... so it seems silly not to try and find one.

The Ritchey is a great stem. But you cant beat the deda for looks.
http://www.alpine-cycles.com/ccs_files/components/deda_Zero100_stem.jpg

good deal

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/STRIWCSCRBN/ritchey-wcs-4-axis-carbon-matrix-stem

Just found this. Not sure how it would look mounted with bars, but it does have a nice clean look to it.

...and it comes in OS so you can use it with drops.

Also, how hard would it be to have someone machine an custom alu stem?

Signal cycles;

This is the kind of ahead stem fogeys like me want.

depends on the bike but i like to see
cinelli sesamo vintage stem

it was the first open stem ever

i have 2