Exotic stem cracking?

bobbydigital
bobbydigital Posts: 254
edited March 2018 in MTB workshop & tech
I bought an Exotic carbon bars and stem.

Carbon paste applied.
Bars say 8nm max so I'm doing 5nm and the stem is starting to split on one of the bolt holes?
Cross pattern tightening method used, not even reached 5nm at that point, doing 1/8th turns.

lh1xtRn.jpg

Guessing it's buggered?

Comments

  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Oh. Looks buggered from that photo. Take it back to where you got it ?
  • bobbydigital
    bobbydigital Posts: 254
    Yeah direct from Exotic, http://www.carboncycles.cc.

    Thought they were a solid brand for carbon fiber bits. :?:
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    What the bars say has nothing to do with what the stem needs.

    Blindly playing with torque wrenches is pointless.
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  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Doesn’t look good, that said carbon stems aren’t worth it in my opinion, usually heavier than quality alloy.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • bobbydigital
    bobbydigital Posts: 254
    cooldad wrote:
    What the bars say has nothing to do with what the stem needs.

    Blindly playing with torque wrenches is pointless.


    That's true, how ever they don't list the max torque setting on their site for the stem or on the stem itself, so went with a 5nm and didn't get there. They will list settings for other items, seat clamp is 6.5nm for example.
  • swod1
    swod1 Posts: 1,639
    The Rookie wrote:
    Doesn’t look good, that said carbon stems aren’t worth it in my opinion, usually heavier than quality alloy.

    Yes i'm using a combination of alloy Easton stem and carbon bars for my weight i'd not bother with a carbon stem.

    Think its failed that stem, i'd see what warranty they have and ask for a replacement.
  • bobbydigital
    bobbydigital Posts: 254
    I just bought it as they did me a good deal at the time, I've ran their carbon bars for a while, experience a few crashes and they held up perfectly so thought I would go for bars, stem and top cap this time around.

    It's 8 months old at this point so I believe warranty should sort it.
    It hasn't cracked right though, it's only cracked where shown in the photo but I wouldn't use it like that.
  • bobbydigital
    bobbydigital Posts: 254
    eXoctic replaced the face plate under warranty which is a result but I did weigh the stem after The Rookie said that carbon stems are often heavier and it's actually 10g heavier than my On One stem which is has the same dimensions.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Par for the course, I have a Kalloy UNO, 94g stock or 88g with a Ti bolt set off eBay, total cost £27.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Dan_xz
    Dan_xz Posts: 130
    I have one of these stems - it's actually an aluminium core wrapped in carbon so other than nice cosmetics it doesn't bring any benefit.

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