Race Face stem explained

Hi,

Brief story with pics on 2 Race Face ahead stems with interesting adjusting/clamping mechanism. Here Ti stems featured, but there also existed steel and Aermet ones! I heard they are Dekerf made.

I weighted the 2 Ti's: One (I think the older) is lighter than the other (180 vs 225gr). The later has rotating headset adjusting part that is beefier and grippier (for your hands). The light one has a flatter round piece. The clamp (located inside) differs too. On the light one it is a wedge like we know from regular stems. On the other there are two bits that expand a cylindric piece (with slot). The later can be converted to 1" too, if you have the right bits. Maybe that was one reason to come up with the redesigned clamp: standardisation.


Right the somewhat lighter stem (approx 185gr). I think it is earlier, but I am not sure on this. The other stem weighs around 30-35gr more.

Light stem:



The more recent(?) stem with more sophisticated clamp:




1-1/8'' (left) and 1'' assembly caught in one pic

Very Nice post, thank you.
Amazing detail on the later clamp design.

Enjoy!

Weren't the Race Face Ti stems made by Dekerf at one point?

My Dekerf Ti bar/stem combo had the same locking mechanism (although to my annoyance I didn't know it could be converted to 1" as so sold it for a song....)

Very clever mechanism on them, it's a bit like having a USE ringo-star permanently welded to your stem. And the fact that you haven't got to hammer a star nut in is a real bonus!

Pete,

I have more of those stems. The ones for 1" steerer have the same diameter housing as the ones for 1-1/8". Only the clampbits differ...

That they are Chris Dekerf made is also what I heard. I do not know whether all are Dekerf made or only particular years/models.

Anyway, they are nice stems Weren't cheapies btw. The legendary German BIKE Workshop tells us they were almost 500DM back then.

I'm almost ashamed to admit I've never even seen one of those before - they were such a cool thing. Another example of fantastic retro engineering and craftsmanship vs. the Taiwanese tat available today.

these are works of art. i always look out for them in shops and on the bay, but rarely see them, ti or steel. i do have a titec one tho, also very, very nice.

I just found one of each

As I look here I am amazed because I just found one of each of the mentioned Raceface Ti stems in a shop today.Both are 1 1/8 and I'm wondering how desirable they are 130mm 0 degree thanks John