[toodles]

Surely, it should be obvious that given the right combination of elements in a crash that an integrated stem would be worse for your crowns than a regular one.

But what advantages do dual crown forks have? Stiffness I'm sure. But don't they increase the chance of damaging your frame? Yep. But we all still run them (well most of us anyway). There is no way a direct mount stem is going to be better for your forks in a crash - that should be obvious to most people. Are they outright more likely to damage your fork? Probably. If you're concerned about that, don't run one. If it's a risk you're willing to accept given the benefits of the integrated designs, then go for it.

But I've got to ask - why focus on the integrated stem issue? There's plenty of components on our bikes where we choose light weight over durability, or function over durability. In fact, if you can't sleep at night over the risk of damaging your crowns, maybe you should reconsider riding a bike down hills and dodging trees as fast as you can.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Surely, it should be obvious that given the right combination of elements in a crash that an integrated stem would be worse for your crowns than a regular one.

But what advantages do dual crown forks have? Stiffness I'm sure. But don't they increase the chance of damaging your frame? Yep. But we all still run them (well most of us anyway). There is no way a direct mount stem is going to be better for your forks in a crash - that should be obvious to most people. Are they outright more likely to damage your fork? Probably. If you're concerned about that, don't run one. If it's a risk you're willing to accept given the benefits of the integrated designs, then go for it.

But I've got to ask - why focus on the integrated stem issue? There's plenty of components on our bikes where we choose light weight over durability, or function over durability. In fact, if you can't sleep at night over the risk of damaging your crowns, maybe you should reconsider riding a bike down hills and dodging trees as fast as you can.

I agree with what you say, but it's about the level of risk, and you need all the information to be able to make it.

Myself, i don't run parts on my bike just because they are light weight, durability and keeping more money in my pocket is my main priority, lets face it, DH is an expensive sport and replacing broken parts all the time sucks nuts. For example, I would love to save 600+grams going to xt outboards from profiles but i know they will be trashed in 3 months under my 95kg frame so im not going to bother.

Im focusing on the issue as i have been tossing up to get one or not, mainly as i want a new stem and was considering the e13 stem. And seeing the e13 guys are always on here spruking how good their products are i thought i would ask a simple question about it, then got a complicated and indirect answer.......

 

[toodles]

Im focusing on the issue as i have been tossing up to get one or not, mainly as i want a new stem and was considering the e13 stem.

Ah yeah true mate, I see your point. TBH I wouldn't got the e.13 if I was you. Squid broke his, and the finish on mine wasn't that great. Just tightening the mounting bolts had the bolt heads scratching the inside of the stem and the split shims were a PITA. Grab a Sic or Funn IMO.

 

[thaflyinfatman]

Confused in that its not realistic. If your stem is twisting, its not tight enough. That simple. If it is tight enough, then its diretly linked to your lower crown through your steerer.

Like the other guys said though, If you crash that hard, that fast, you are going ht have a LOT more to think abou than if something is twisted.

Dave

I think you are missing the point here, intentionally or not. If you crash, and say your bike bounces down the hill away from you, it will probably land on the bars at some stage. If for some reason it manages to land on a strange angle where it tries to push say the front wheel to the right and the bars to the left, it will be able to exert extremely high forces through the structures (much higher than a rider can generate whilst still on the bike), and in this case a conventional stem will often slip on the steerer where an integrated one will either be fine, or something somewhere will give way (wheel, fork, stem, bars, whatever) in some manner, be that twisting, bending, breaking etc. I'm not disputing that integrated stems can be made stronger for however many reasons, but as Toodles said, it's exceedingly obvious that they DO increase the risk of damage to the aforementioned components. Yeah more to worry about blah blah, but just because I crashed doesn't mean I no longer care about whether I have to replace hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of bike parts. And yes I realise it's a compromise everyone has to make.

 

[benno]

my 95kg frame

F*ck me sideways! how much does the complete bike weigh?