Skip to main content

Straitline Pinch (SSC) stem


ROUND NUMBERS APPEAR to be important to Straitline – our stem weighed exactly 200g and costs 150$. That makes it the second priciest and the heaviest stem on test.

It features our preferred bar clamp design, which requires two bolts to be turned until there’s no gap between the stem and faceplate before the other two are tightened up. But unlike other stems with this design, the bar roll can’t be adjusted once the first two are tight, making it trickier to adjust. Straitline have used 5mm bolts throughout, making fitting easier and allowing a properly tight 12.2Nm torque setting. The bar clamp is wide at 52mm, bolstering the bombproof feel on the bike. It’s available in eight colours, but you’d have to be obsessive about colour matching to justify the cost.

WEIGHT: 200g (50x31.8mm)
LENGTH(S): 35, 50mm
CLAMPS(S): 31.8mm

Price 150$
Labels

Popular posts from this blog

Merida Big Nine 100

Wit the bikes swapped over, we head out on the same loop again, this time on the 29in Big Nine 100. Whereas the Big Seven was snappy off the line, the 29er takes a couple more pedal strokes to get up to speed. That said, once it's up there, it's easy to keep the big wheels rolling, allowing us to cover ground with ease. The fire road is at times a little rough, and the bigger wheels roll over the imperfections so we barely notice them.

READ MORE >>

Chromag HiFi 35 (50mm) stem

This is a seriously solid stem. Chromag use 5mm Allen bolts throughout, which makes it that bit easier to fit because you don’t have to swap tools. Once torqued up to the recommended 6-8Nm, it clamps both steerer and bar solidly, with no appreciable flex. We couldn’t get it to twist on the steerer, either in our static test or when riding. It’s also available in a 35mm length and three other colours. At 204g the HiFi is the heaviest stem on test by some margin, despite being one of the more expensive offerings here. Price $112

READ MORE >>

CANYON NERVE AL 8.0

  S ince their entry into the UK market a few years ago, Canyon have made a name for themselves as purveyors of well-made bikes that exhibit often extraordinary value. The secret (or catch, depending on your point of view) is that the brand don’t have dealers – they ship bikes directly to your door.

READ MORE >>

Cannondale Trail SL 29 SS

The fat aluminium tubes are a constrast to the skinny items seen elsewhere in the test, but this rigid Cannondale uses them to create one of the most old-school - and lightest - rides here.

READ MORE >>

Scott Scale 750

We continue to swap over our different wheel sized sparing partners and returning to the 750 from a lap on the Scale 950, immediately, the smaller wheel and thus smaller fork means there's extra stiffness up front. It's still not as stiff as we'd like, a bolt-thru axle here would still be appreciated, but hitting the first few berms is more accurate and thus a touch faster.

READ MORE >>