Tarmac: Stem and Handlebar

At first I was thinking about an aluminum stem and handlebar because of the impact of forces during a sprint. But a few milliseconds later I bought a carbon stem and handlebar from Ritchey. My choice: The Superlogic EvoCurve and the C260, paired with costume made titanium bolts… of course black anodized.

These tools are needed:

  • Bike Stand
  • TORX-3
  • 4mm Allen
  • Torque Wrench
  • Loctite 243

Official Service Manual:

Service/Spare Part:

  • Superlogic Evo Curve (420mm)
    • 30-363-512
  • Superlogic C260 Stem (90mm)
    • 31-383-509
  • Custom Titanium Bolts (black anodized)

Related Post:

Post as guidance? No warranty in ANY case of damage!

As already said carbon stem and handlebar… Let’s do a weight check frist.

  • Ritchey Superlogic C260: 128.8 grams
  • Ritchey Carbon Spacer (10mm+10mm+5mm): 6.8 grams
  • Ritchey Superlogic EvoCurve: 196.3 grams

For this rebuild I did not disassemble the stem and handlebar because it was perfect aligned. So those pictures are from the original build-up. Those numbers are also with the oem steel bolts.

The Ritchey Superlogic stem is a 260 degrease clamp-style. That means only 27 percent are  accessible for the handlebar… impossible for the classical mounting technique.

The secret behind the 260 clamp-style is to thread the handlebar from the side and flip it 180 degrease. After that it is possible to slide it to the middle to flip it again in its final position. This sounds strange but it is the only way. Here is a little sketch.

Now for the assembly, first with the oem screws. The SRM Clip is still mounted 🙂

The ahead cap will be tighten later to preload the bearings. Now for the titanium stuff. The stem is clamped with 3, the handlebar with 4 bolts. 

  • Stem: OEM 6.6 grams vs. titanium 4.1 grams
  • Handlebar: OEM 8.2 grams vs. titanium 4.7 grams

Total weight-saving on those bolts are 5.7 grams… like heaven.

Now it is time to install the wheels and set it on the ground. After that the first thing is to tighten the ahead screw to preload the headset bearings (just hand tighten), then it is possible to align the stem and handlebar.

When everything is in its correct position torque is needed. Exactly 4NM for every bolt + some Loctite 243 (blue).

On the stem secure the middle first, top second and finally the bottom one.

On the handlebar it is important to tighten the bolts evenly distributed in a criss-cross pattern. Same torque here – 4NM.