Tough short stems? And torque wrenches?

Sorry for the delay. RF Atlas AM in 50mm

Thanks for the further suggestions, good options.
I'm leaning towards the newest RF Atlas though very few reviews out there on this new one. Almost made an order...
The old one looks great for the money too. thanks.
The stuff that gave a little doubt over the mighty and beautiful Thomson is this thread along with a few other: http://forums.mtbr.com/all-mountain/ste ... 087-2.html

I'm not saying they are bad at all, millions of happy customers and you can't be certain if these folks have actually over-torqued or crashed/hit a tree/ ran metre long bars(!) or taken some very big hits, even though some say otherwise etc, torqued and just riding lite XC etc..., a few examples are the old Elite design too.

From what I can tell the face plates are all the same between 50mm 'DH' version and the longer slimmer X4's

Crazy how light the harder hitting capable stems are now.

Sheesh...I've never seen a Thomson break.

That front cap thing is worrying but on the other hand I do think that just about every bike bit has been broken by someone either through being a numpty or crashing. There were a load of people who managed to crack their Easton Havoc stems. Not sure how because they look properly burly.

Race Face stuff has alwasy been good for me...even their bottom brackets that everyone else seems to destroy. My Deus headset on the SX is still OK despite not being used for Cross Country.

The face plate on mine has got diddy bolts...I think they're a three millimeter bolt head to stop people over torquing the face plate. Mine diesnt seem to need to be done up tight not to slip.

It's true, there was also a Race Face Turbine face plate which does look more XC. I did notice that the bolts look different on the 'DH' shorty versions, must be the same cap. the small bolts do help. I read that the torque should feel like pushing down a door handle, so by that point the slim allen key is flexing a bit.

Another one for the short list is the Hope DH made in UK I expect, and a sensible weight. more ££ though!
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/hope-dh-mtb-oversized-stem/

That pic is with the older 4mm bolts.

The Hope stems are pretty nice too. I've not paid too much attention to them because always seem to default to Thomson or Race Face.

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/r ... -stem.html

Merlin are very helpful and have a video of the stubby and slim stems side by side, there does seem to be a difference in face plates, and in bolts. So maybe the stubbys are all round tougher after all...