Modolo X-Tenos stem question

Hi,
What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

George wrote:

What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

See: http://www.bikexprt.com/witness/product/stems.htm for details.

Sheldon "Ouch!" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, |
| or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. |
| --Abraham Lincoln |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

George wrote:

What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

See: http://www.bikexprt.com/witness/product/stems.htm for details.

Sheldon "Ouch!" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, |
| or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. |
| --Abraham Lincoln |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

In article ,
says...


George wrote:

What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

I had one of these stems and very luckily caught the damage before
it completely cracked through. You can do a visual inspection of
the stemp, mine was half way to breaking when I caught it. Look at
the stem from the bottom. Look at the area around the bolt hole, that
is where the cracks start.
--------------
Alex

In article ,
says...


George wrote:

What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

I had one of these stems and very luckily caught the damage before
it completely cracked through. You can do a visual inspection of
the stemp, mine was half way to breaking when I caught it. Look at
the stem from the bottom. Look at the area around the bolt hole, that
is where the cracks start.
--------------
Alex

Curious, I have an X-Tenos on one of my road bikes and and X-EOS (a
predecessor) on my training bike and have had trouble free service from
both for many years. I am no small guy either! Too bad they had
problems, they were sure beautiful to look at. I have at least 25,000
miles on the X-Tenos bar/stem combination. I do recall that the stem
didn't tighten quite as well as it should have on non-Modolo X-Tenos bars.

Terry (still ridin'it but now checkin'it) Rudd

JZWest wrote:
Alex Rodriguez wrote in message ...

In article ,
says...


George wrote:


What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

I had one of these stems and very luckily caught the damage before
it completely cracked through. You can do a visual inspection of
the stemp, mine was half way to breaking when I caught it. Look at
the stem from the bottom. Look at the area around the bolt hole, that
is where the cracks start.
--------------
Alex


Man, I didn't know about this sort of failure. I have an X-Tenos on my
rain bike, left over from many years ago. There were problems with
these things right from the begining and Modolo sent me 7 or 8 stems
until I got one that was ok.

But here's the thing. I had a near catastrophic event with this stem
about a month and a half ago. While sprinting up hill the handle bar
bolt failed at the head to bolt body transition and the bars
immediately rotated giving me quite a scare. Very nearly lost it. I've
replaced the bolt from one of the other stems, but now I'll replace
the stem. I've broken to many bones as a result of equipment failure.

Thanks for the heads up!

Curious, I have an X-Tenos on one of my road bikes and and X-EOS (a
predecessor) on my training bike and have had trouble free service from
both for many years. I am no small guy either! Too bad they had
problems, they were sure beautiful to look at. I have at least 25,000
miles on the X-Tenos bar/stem combination. I do recall that the stem
didn't tighten quite as well as it should have on non-Modolo X-Tenos bars.

Terry (still ridin'it but now checkin'it) Rudd

JZWest wrote:
Alex Rodriguez wrote in message ...

In article ,
says...


George wrote:


What is an exact clamp diameter of the black Modolo X-Tenos stem? I try
to use it with my ITM 25.8 mm handlebar, but it seems to be too tight :-(
Regards,
George.

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

I had one of these stems and very luckily caught the damage before
it completely cracked through. You can do a visual inspection of
the stemp, mine was half way to breaking when I caught it. Look at
the stem from the bottom. Look at the area around the bolt hole, that
is where the cracks start.
--------------
Alex


Man, I didn't know about this sort of failure. I have an X-Tenos on my
rain bike, left over from many years ago. There were problems with
these things right from the begining and Modolo sent me 7 or 8 stems
until I got one that was ok.

But here's the thing. I had a near catastrophic event with this stem
about a month and a half ago. While sprinting up hill the handle bar
bolt failed at the head to bolt body transition and the bars
immediately rotated giving me quite a scare. Very nearly lost it. I've
replaced the bolt from one of the other stems, but now I'll replace
the stem. I've broken to many bones as a result of equipment failure.

Thanks for the heads up!

Sheldon Brown wrote:

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

See: http://www.bikexprt.com/witness/product/stems.htm for details.

Eeek. The Modolo Q-race stem is similar looking but has the
bar clamp bolt enter from the top, rather than the bottom.
That means there is a much smaller diameter hole in the
extension, although it's still a fairly small cross-section
to trust one's face to.

Many many stems that look like the Cinelli XA have a clamp bolt
behind the extension, but again the load bearing part only has
to be tapped for the bolt thread diameter. Also, in the distant
past of mountain biking, lots of stems had small diameter holes
to serve as a canti brake cable stop.
One hopes that the X-Tenos stem was close to unique in its
monobuttocked design.

Sheldon Brown wrote:

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

See: http://www.bikexprt.com/witness/product/stems.htm for details.

Eeek. The Modolo Q-race stem is similar looking but has the
bar clamp bolt enter from the top, rather than the bottom.
That means there is a much smaller diameter hole in the
extension, although it's still a fairly small cross-section
to trust one's face to.

Many many stems that look like the Cinelli XA have a clamp bolt
behind the extension, but again the load bearing part only has
to be tapped for the bolt thread diameter. Also, in the distant
past of mountain biking, lots of stems had small diameter holes
to serve as a canti brake cable stop.
One hopes that the X-Tenos stem was close to unique in its
monobuttocked design.

I'm not sure I totally agree with this URL. It suggests that all "flawed
stems [are] split behind the handlebars".

I think the X-tenos may have been a bad design. But how do you explain all
of the other stems with the split in the same area: Deda Murex, TTT 84, TTT
Motus, Cinelli Grammo, Performance Forte Classic and so on? Are they all
accidents waiting to happen?

-Dion

Sheldon Brown wrote:

Diameter should be the same, but BEWARE! The X-Tenos stem is
notoriously prone to sudden catastrophic failure. I strongly advise
against using this dangerous product.

See: http://www.bikexprt.com/witness/product/stems.htm for details.