# Ritchey C260 Stem Carbon vs Alloy weight



## Floriante (Apr 22, 2009)

Hello, i wish to buy a c260 stem, however im not sure about the weight. I want to buy a carbon stem but it is a bit heavier than the alloy one.

Is there anybody here who actually have 90mm alloy or carbon c260 stem and measure its weight himself/herself? I want to learn the weight difference.

Also which one do you recommend outside the weight issue?


----------



## Lelandjt (Feb 22, 2008)

I can tell you that so far carbon hasn't been a great material for stems. Alloys have been loghter and much cheaper. In the future new construction methods will change this but we're not there yet. Carbon stems remain an expensive fashion statement.


----------



## bikemaniack (Feb 6, 2010)

on r2-bike.de you can find pics on scale for 100mm version,and the alloy one is 8grams lighter and much cheaper.


----------



## Motivated (Jan 13, 2004)

I have the aluminum one in 120mm but no scale. Its a sweet stem - I just want to note that it's not easy to install a bar on this stem. I chipped the clearcoat of my Syntace Vector bar which is 10mm rise and 12° sweep - so more contours than a flat bar, but I'm sure other bars have smaller bend radiuses and could be impossible to install. Just my $0.02.


----------



## FRE_A_K (Apr 22, 2012)

My alloy C260 110mm weights 112g...
I'd go with an alloy one. Wet black looks cool enough!


----------



## G-Choro (Jul 30, 2010)

plus, the C260 carbon stem isn't all carbon. it's alloy wrapped in carbon. i ran the Easton EC90SL for a while. full carbon, light, and it was pretty stiff. but i'm back on aluminum. cheaper. lighter.


----------



## ljsmith (Oct 26, 2007)

According to Ritchey the carbon stem is for people looking for a stonger and stiffer stem. The alloy version is for those looking for the lightest weight, it is stiffer than the standard WCS though.


----------



## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

There are actually three versions of the Ritchey C260 stem now.

You've got the alloy Ritchey C260 stem, the carbonmatrix Ritchey C260 stem (alloy stem with carbon wrap) and then there's also a full carbon Ritchey C260 stem too.

2013 Ritchey Road Components - First Look - BikeRadar

The aim with the full carbon stem seems to be to make a very stiff stem that's also fairly light, rather than a lightweight stem.

I've got a 100mm Ritchey C260 carbonmatrix stem fitted at the moment. It replaced a 110mm Extralite Ultrastem OC stem. Compared to the Extralite stem the Ritchey C260 carbonmatrix stem is much stiffer. With wider bars fitted the Extralite stem was a bit flexy when trying hard, although the main reason for changing was that I needed a slightly shorter stem.

I had no issues fitting the Ritchey C260 carbonmatrix stem to a Ritchey Superlogic 10D carbon flat bar. It didn't scratch or catch on the bar at all. The UD finish of the bar and stem match. Apparently the 3mm allen key steel bolts that come with the stem can be a bit soft so you have to be careful not to round them. Mine were ok but there are a few threads where the bolts have caused issues.

Pictured below: Ritchey C260 carbonmatrix stem is a gloss UD carbon finish

Ritchey C260 full carbon stem is a plain matte finish


----------



## rapsac (Sep 26, 2004)

See attached pictures for 100 mm versions, anodised and carbon matrix. 
I kept the anodised version. The carbon matrix had an uneven surface at the top and bottom where it would make contact with the headset or spacers. This due to the carbon wrap + clear coat. Could be a potential noise creation area... 

Verstuurd van mijn GT-I9100 met Tapatalk


----------



## andresco50 (Apr 19, 2012)

I want this stem @wr304 in 70mm size... I know that in this length it weights 93 grams... anybody have tried this alloy c260 stem with m4 titanium bolts to reduce more weight???


----------



## shiny (Jul 4, 2007)

Not tried the stem with the ti bolts, but my 70mm wet white came in at 97 grams.

Still undecided on the 260 wrap as I have marked each bar I have installed with this stem and noticed on their new trail stems they have gone to a 220 wrap, still pretty light and very stiff stem.


----------



## andresco50 (Apr 19, 2012)

shiny said:


> Not tried the stem with the ti bolts, but my 70mm wet white came in at 97 grams.
> 
> Still undecided on the 260 wrap as I have marked each bar I have installed with this stem and noticed on their new trail stems they have gone to a 220 wrap, still pretty light and very stiff stem.


The alloy is lighter than the carbon wrap... the ti bolts save 6 grams. Seems that the shinny paint weights 4 grams a bb black c260 in 70mm weights 93 grams check this pics!! @shiny

http://forums.mtbr.com/weight-weenies/2012-ritchey-wcs-c260-stem-actual-weight-739742.html


----------



## shiny (Jul 4, 2007)

andresco50, thanks, been looking for that thread. The WW forum has only 2 pages now!


----------



## Dambala (Jan 22, 2011)

For what it's worth I have a new C260 carbon wrapped stem and it is noticeably stiffer then the WCS aluminum stem. I'm using it on a Crit bike and it has dramatically stiffened the feel of front end during sprints.


----------



## jdubb12 (Jul 29, 2008)

I bought the UNO brand from eBay it's 97g alu.


----------

