Bike Setup: Tommasini Sintesi with Campagnolo Chorus 10 speed. My Cinelli Supercorsa has a Cinelli stem (of course!).
Summary: HOW TO FIX DEDA MUREX TORSIONAL FLEX!!! Excess flex is probably due to flex being controlled only by your two bolts. To fix:
1. loosen both bar clamp bolts.
2. tighten the REAR bolt until the clamp is firmly clamped to the stem.
3. Now use only the front bolt to clamp your bar.
Now the entire width of the rear portion of the clamp is preventing twisting. Having both a front and back gap in the clamp permits any flexing that the bolts alone might allow.
Strengths: Two bolt clamp is more reliable than other front opening quill stems like Modolo.
Weaknesses: Looks. Also, hardware gets rusty. First generation polished version with no graphics and traditional styling is much nicer.
Similar Products Used: 3T Motus (nice) Modolo Stems (forget it) Cinelli Pinochio (very nice) Cinelli XA (flexy) 3T Synthesis (super flexy)
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Summary: i do not recommend this stem. as said before it is inherently weak and flexible. something in your steering system should not be this structurally weak and underdesigned. would you put a "flexible" rod in the suspension on your car?? i'm tempted to say that aggressive sprinters may actually break this stem! seek out a threadless conversion instead.
Strengths: literally and structurally - none
Weaknesses: excessive deflection, alloy quill bolt prone to stripping. gray finish is very cheesy. must grease steerer to avoid creaking, guaranteed.
Similar Products Used: cinelli xa - built like tanks compared to this murex
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Summary: This stem has been a problem since day one. I noticed how flexy it was on the first hill climb. I stayed with it because it looks great on the bike. Then it started to creak terrible. Ive lubed it every way possible and even tried plumbers taped between the bar and stem to no avail. I am using a Deda 215 bar with the correct 26.0 diameter so my problem isnt there. I finally tightened the bolts too tight. I ended up pulling the treads right out of the stem. I have since ordered the Salsa SUP and cant believe the difference in stiffness. I can actually tell I have more control in the steering dept. Even on things like swerving around pot holes at less than all out sprinting speeds. This stem rocks in comparrison. Dont buy a Murex!
Strengths: Looks, price
Weaknesses: flexes and creaks
Similar Products Used: 3T, Salsa
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Bike Setup: OLD Schwinn SuperSport recently upgraded to Shimano 9-speed (mix of 105/Ultegra/DuraAce). Profile Ai
Summary: I see lots of people complaining about this stem's strength (or lack thereof), but I have yet to hear of a single breakage. On the other hand, it is torsionally quite flexy. However, I find that the flex does wonders for absorbing road vibrations. There is no up/down or side to side flex at all. The stem looks great and is really light. Hard to go wrong with that combo...
Strengths: Light weight, good looks, shock absorption
Weaknesses: Torsional flex... if that bothers you. I love it. Expensive, if you buy new.
Similar Products Used: Profile H2O (super stiff, but really heavy), Sakae custom (no complaints but kind of heavy. Not very flashy).
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Bike Setup: Trek OCLV, Kestrel EMS fork, Chris King headset, Deda handle bars.
Summary: I do not recommend this product. A sales person from a Colorado based bicycle retailer suggested this stem to me because I was looking for a removable face design stem for my bicycle.
This one fit the needs at first and I never noticed any creaking or that much flexing in it on my rides.
A friend of mine started to complain about the cheap stem on his bicycle flexing under power and giving him that feeling of "instability". He decided to give mine a torque and I was suprised to see how much it gave. I knew my Control Tech one never moved that much, but since I had started to spin more in my sprints and climbs, I never really noticed it.
I kept it on there because it was a beautiful piece of metal, but you never know if it's flexiness could hurt you in situation such as in a big sprint or a hard turn. The biggest problem came when I got a new frame and wanted to take the stem off. I had lubed everything when I had first installed it, but I guess with all the training in "not ideal" conditions, everything siezed in it. I have beat on and ignored my Control Tech stem far worse and never had problems. I nearly babied this stem, only to find out that it had siezed itself tighter than if it had been welded in place on my bike. None of the parts would knock itself loose and I ended up having to take a hacksaw to it. Right now I still have the lower half of the stem stuck inside my fork steerer.
Too many of the parts were cheap and they corroded and/or stripped.
I guess this would be a good item for someone who has the money to have a shop maintain their bicycle, or who would rather maintain a bike than ride it, but for serious working Joe racers, I'm afraid that this one is too delicate.
Strengths: Good looks.
Removable face.
Good workmanship quality.
Weaknesses: Flexible like a Cirque du Soleil performer.
Poor choice of materials/design.
Expensive.
Durability.
Similar Products Used: Control Tech
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