Maybe it’s my mountain bike background. It could be the brand’s long association with Thomas Frischknecht, one of my all-time favourite riders. It’s more likely that they are light, look great and don’t cost the earth. Whatever the reason, there’s something about Ritchey 4 Axis stems that just does it for me when it comes to attaching my bars to my steerer.
My first Ritchey was acquired around 2001, when an original WCS 120mm model, accompanied by a matching bar and seatpost, found its way onto my magnesium Merida (notorious for their strange choice of frame material, prone to cracking, but that’s another story). Those parts found their way onto my next two bikes, but after a few years of service, the graphics were starting to look a bit dated, and they were sold off. When my next build was undertaken, there really was only one choice for the cockpit components.
Over the last two years, my collection of Ritchey stems has grown to cover the gamut of sizes; I ran a 100mm on my mountain bike, but it has been replaced by an 80mm (not a Ritchey, but that will no doubt be rectified soon). My road bike and my ‘cross bike have seen service from 110, 120 and 130mm units. The two longest examples are presented in the sweet ‘Wet Black’ finish, and currently a ‘Wet Red’ 130 graces my Roubaix. I’ve also got a hankering for a ‘Wet White’ option, and teaming it with the white seatpost tickles my fancy too. My indulgence knows no bounds.
How many 4 Axis stems is enough? One more…
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Gillis
And the problem is? They are a road and/or mtb stem. Ritchey also make road bikes, road wheels, road bars, seatposts, forks... Just because they came from an mtb background doesn't mean shit. And of course Tom was a road racer before he helped in the inception of the mtb.
Hey, maybe Cadel shouldn't be allowed to have a road contract, because he was a mountain biker too.
@Brett
Yeah,
"What you talkin' 'bout Gillis?"
I saw an interview a year or two ago with Tomac saying he did that because he was in Europe all year, racing and training on drop bars. He didn't want to change focus with flat bars, so he used drops and STI's. During this interview, Tomac stated retrospectively, it was a foolish thing to do since the MTB worlds course was a lot rootier, and bumpier than today's, and the brakes were a bitch to hold onto for long periods of time.
Tomac riding drop bars and that disk wheel was the ultimate bad ass set up. That heyday of XC racing was my favorite era of all time - for sure - road or dirt action.
I've read he ran those bars since he road racing as well, and wanted the same position. I'm not sure he ran STI - was that out yet? I could be wrong. I do know I've seen other pictures of Tomac running the drop bars with bar end shifters. Those pics also show a rigid fork and toe clips, so a bit earlier.
I've thought about setting up my old '91 Fat Chance Yo Eddy with drop bars as a goof. Would be a fun project. The frame is a hair small for that however, don't think I could pull it off comfort wise.
@Brett
Settle down cowboy. I just thought the relation was odd. It's not like I'm putting a Cinelli stem on my mtb (or RaceFace parts on my road bike--even though they make them now). And as far back as I can remember, Ritchey produced mtb parts long before they produced any road bike parts.
And, (in a quick search) his only road palmares seem to be for the '96 olympic road team, which he did on a cx bike.
@Gillis
So what exactly is your point, cowgirl?
@Brett
Just cos none of our women'll go near ya...
Ah piss. Thanks for reminding me about the world champ stripes. Anyone want a 130mm 6 degree richie stem?
@frank
Stems are nice, I've got 2 for different bars. The shims give away 200 odd grams, so weighty compared to some others but when your bike has to go north to make a pre-decided weight, it's a practical use of weight that has benefits over putting lead inside the frame.
You might be able to remove them, I rubbed off the ugly parts of an Easton logo on my stem using one of those magic cleaning sponges.