Handlebar slippage

[jabberwocky]

2 bolt stems suck. I had one on my old commuting bike and could never get the bars to stop slipping. Carbon paste helps (it increases friction) but the problem never went away. I learned my lesson from that bike: 4 bolt stems only.

[dkel]

In my limited experience, shims tend to be metal; a bit of rubber will get destroyed at the tensions required for a handlebar stem, and offer no help for the slippage. Seatposts are often shimmed with a bit of aluminum from a soda can, and commercially-made shims are available for that purpose; maybe a similar product exists for stems. If all else fails, a new stem isn’t too expensive, depending on what you get, and an upgrade could help if you have a cheap stem now. People argue about whether to grease the bars where the stem grips, but if you have grease in there, you could remove it and see if that helps.

[hozn]

Yeah, as Shawn said, carbon paste. And/Or new stem.

[creadinger]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It’s a Thomson, which was a free replacement after the last one cracked in December. I’m open to suggestions for a new stem. Do you guys like Thomson as a brand or is there something else you like in similar or lower price range? Keeping in mind, my primary PRO for the stem is durability and strength over low-weight, etc…

[jabberwocky]

@creadinger 121511 wrote:

Thanks for the replies guys.

It’s a Thomson, which was a free replacement after the last one cracked in December. I’m open to suggestions for a new stem. Do you guys like Thomson as a brand or is there something else you like in similar or lower price range? Keeping in mind, my primary PRO for the stem is durability and strength over low-weight, etc…

The stem I had that slipped like a mofo was a Thomson X2. IMO while Thomson usually makes great stuff, their X2 stem doesn’t work that well because of the 2 bolt clamp. If you want to stick with Thomson just get the X4 (their mountainbike version, which has 4 bolts and is ~20 grams heavier).

[Greasemonkey]

Cannondale C1 and C2 stems are stiff and light and can be had for great prices on ebay. You can remove the logos with nail polish remover if you want as well.

[Author]

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