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my collection of Ritchey stems has grown to cover the gamut of sizes; I ran a 100mm on my mountain bike, but it has been replaced by an 80mm (not a Ritchey, but that will no doubt be rectified soon).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
I get the WC stripe adornment concern. It's crossed my mind in relation to my wheels. However, I'll postulate that when the stripes are used subtly on a piece of gear the intent is to convey tradition or heritage, not accomplishment of the rider employing the gear. Accomplishment is reserved for jerseys, podium girls, trophies, and sparkling wine.
Since I'm a BMXer at heart I have to pipe up. I remember when MTB racing started to become more than just plodding away on single track trying to not get lapped by Ned Overend. When all the downhilling started the BMXers got interested - you know these guys, the punk kids with unbelievable bike handling skills - anyway, Mike King was a Factory GT AA BMX pro and he shows up at a DH race in full factory regalia and people are looking at him like "Who are you?" and he says "I race BMX for GT." and he received snickers and looks down noses and the "He's just a BMXer" attitude. Then he handed everybody their asses. That's when the BMX floodgate opened and pretty much everybody in MTBing has a BMX background now - Lopes, Carter, Palmer, all the Europeans, etc.