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Syntace F99 handlebar fit question

2K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  johnmyster99 
#1 ·
Hey all,

As I was awaken up from deep sleep by furious ringing of the postman on my doorbell I realised that my Syntace stem has arrived in the mail. I was playing around with the stem (as with any new piece of kit) and thought I would clamp Extralite handlebar for my next build in it just for the fun of it.

The first thing I noticed is that handlebar fit between those 2 rubber pads is EXTREMELY tight. Handlebar barely goes in at all before it gets tough to push it in and I tried to gently force it in with my hand but it would only go about half way.

I realised that only way to force it in properly is to tighten the 2 clamps and they would gently push it in, so I proceeded to carefully tighten the bolts. After a bit it was in nice and snug and after admiring the parts for a while it was time to take it appart.

As I pulled off the two handlebar clamps and struggled to get the bar out of the grip of those rubbers I noticed that there was a nice gouge on my handlebar from the main stem body (from when the bar was being clamped down). The fit is so tight that the edge took off some clearcoat off from CF.

Anyway I just wated to see if this was mainstream experience with the stem? Structurally handlebar is ok and aesthetically the scratches left bother me a little (but can probably hide them) but I can't help but wonder if this is a normal thing? When it was clamped in fully the fit of the bar to stem seemed snug and just right so its likely just designed this way but just thought I'd ask.

I think I'll just leave the stem and bar alone until its time to put the bike together.
 
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#2 ·
torque...

hey Bojan,
have you also seen the writings which say how much torque you should use? it's pretty low at just 6 or 8 N/mm. and then you also need to apply the torque carefully because it's a 4 -bolt clamp so you can't just thighten 1 bolt at a time.

the stem has EXACTLY 25.4mm so it might also be the Extralite handlebar that is a bit oversize. the snug fit of those rubbers is meant to be "snug" but you shouldn't damage your handlebar. so it's either that you had it overtorqued or that the handlebar is slightly oversize.

OR it's because of the thight fit the handlebar won't go in parallel. it get's pushed in the correct position by the clamp and therefore you really have to take care to evenly ditsribute the load/torque when thightening the bolts.

AND last but least Syntace says only special, reinforced handlebars should be used for a 4-bolt clamp design.they have that special marking also on their handlebars that says 4-OK or something like that which means it's approved for the added load 4-bolt clamps create.

i never had any issues with my "normal" FRM bar though.
 
#3 ·
Hasn't been a problem

I've never had a gouge in my bar, but it is tight putting the bar in, and doesn't seat fully until I begin to tighten the bolts. But it seems to go in snug and natural as I tighten them. I'm using a Maxm MX-1 with the Syntace and am careful to tighten uniformly, a little at a time on each bolt until I reach the 8 n/m recommended torque. I can notice where the clamps were when I take off he bar, as it does scuff the clearcoat. My thought is that any stem would scuff the bar directly under the clamp.

Boj said:
Hey all,

As I was awaken up from deep sleep by furious ringing of the postman on my doorbell I realised that my Syntace stem has arrived in the mail. I was playing around with the stem (as with any new piece of kit) and thought I would clamp Extralite handlebar for my next build in it just for the fun of it.

The first thing I noticed is that handlebar fit between those 2 rubber pads is EXTREMELY tight. Handlebar barely goes in at all before it gets tough to push it in and I tried to gently force it in with my hand but it would only go about half way.

I realised that only way to force it in properly is to tighten the 2 clamps and they would gently push it in, so I proceeded to carefully tighten the bolts. After a bit it was in nice and snug and after admiring the parts for a while it was time to take it appart.

As I pulled off the two handlebar clamps and struggled to get the bar out of the grip of those rubbers I noticed that there was a nice gouge on my handlebar from the main stem body (from when the bar was being clamped down). The fit is so tight that the edge took off some clearcoat off from CF.

Anyway I just wated to see if this was mainstream experience with the stem? Structurally handlebar is ok and aesthetically the scratches left bother me a little (but can probably hide them) but I can't help but wonder if this is a normal thing? When it was clamped in fully the fit of the bar to stem seemed snug and just right so its likely just designed this way but just thought I'd ask.

I think I'll just leave the stem and bar alone until its time to put the bike together.
 
#4 ·
Part of it might be...

If you look at the Syntace website, it says the F99 has a 190 degree or 200 degree bar clamp. Who knows what that means? Well, I'd guess that a 180 degree bar clamp, the stem and the clamp face would both encompass the bar 180 degress, and each would cover about half the bar. However, if the F99 is more than that, I think what they tried to do was to get the stem to wrap around MORE than half the bar, while those little clamp straps hold LESS of the bar. If this was the case, then it would explain how it was difficult to get the bar in, because you have to pass "through center."

I got mine the other week, and while setting my Easton EC70 bar into it, I did notice that it seemed to 'snap' into place. Also, I wouldn't be concerned about crushing the bar with these little tiny bolts and straps. Round bars are extremely strong in compressive loading. If we had square bars, I'd be more concerned. However, I would worry about overtigntening those bolts, fatiguing them and having them break. Especially since they are holding onto two separate little straps, that have no way to distribute the load, like the big front plate on my thomson can.

Just some thoughts. If you got that bar in there, I wouldn't worry about it, as long as you don't have to kill those bolts.

Oh, what is the diameter of your bar? Is it possible that 'extralite' makes their bars to a 26.0 diameter, so that people can use 'lighter' road stems? That would make for a tough fit, being that the mountain stem is looking for a 25.4 diameter bar. Just a thought...
 
#5 ·
DaFireMedic said:
I've never had a gouge in my bar, but it is tight putting the bar in, and doesn't seat fully until I begin to tighten the bolts. But it seems to go in snug and natural as I tighten them. I'm using a Maxm MX-1 with the Syntace and am careful to tighten uniformly, a little at a time on each bolt until I reach the 8 n/m recommended torque. I can notice where the clamps were when I take off he bar, as it does scuff the clearcoat. My thought is that any stem would scuff the bar directly under the clamp.
How do you like the Maxm Syntace combo? I've been looking at the exact same setup.
 
#6 ·
the "tightness" mainly comes from the snap-in-clamp of the f99 (the 200° thing), but quite a lot of these stems are also just a little bit undersized in the clamp area. and combined with a bar exceeding tolerances... ;)

i've mounted a few sets f99+duraflite (/carbon); especially with the carbon duraflite its not that easy not to scratch or even accidently remove the black color (ie the color on the reinforcement alloytube in the middle) as the clamp is so tight
 
#7 ·
Yes it is a snug fit. I have the f 99 and put a Monkeylite SL, it did make a mark on the Monkeylite SL. I noticed this when I took it off and replaced it with a Titec 118 which the f 99 mated very nice with. The change is because I needed the riser for a cannondale style reverse stem. Here the Monkeylite SL settled very well being a 2 bolt clamp. Am leaving it there because this carbon fiber scratches easily.
 
#8 ·
Uh oh...

Uh oh all this talk has me a little scared as I just found a buyer for my Easton Mg stem which I was planning to replace with a Syntace F99...

My bar is the Easton CT2 carbon riser from a couple years ago....does it fit this 4 bolt criteria Nino is talking about?

At first I was thinking you could avoid the 200 deg. "snap-in" problem by sliding the bar into position sideways, rather than putting it into the clamp straight on. This probably wouldn't work with the curves of a riser bar, but shouldn't it work for a flat bar?

I want to get this stem, but I don't want to damage my handlebar.

nino said:
hey Bojan,
have you also seen the writings which say how much torque you should use? it's pretty low at just 6 or 8 N/mm. and then you also need to apply the torque carefully because it's a 4 -bolt clamp so you can't just thighten 1 bolt at a time.

the stem has EXACTLY 25.4mm so it might also be the Extralite handlebar that is a bit oversize. the snug fit of those rubbers is meant to be "snug" but you shouldn't damage your handlebar. so it's either that you had it overtorqued or that the handlebar is slightly oversize.

OR it's because of the thight fit the handlebar won't go in parallel. it get's pushed in the correct position by the clamp and therefore you really have to take care to evenly ditsribute the load/torque when thightening the bolts.

AND last but least Syntace says only special, reinforced handlebars should be used for a 4-bolt clamp design.they have that special marking also on their handlebars that says 4-OK or something like that which means it's approved for the added load 4-bolt clamps create.

i never had any issues with my "normal" FRM bar though.
 
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