My Race Face Turbine stem cracked tonight on the way to work. It was a real “whoaaa” moment. I’ve read in the past that they have cracked on others though I didn’t put it on and have no idea what it may have been tourqued at. Anyone else have an issue with these?
Scary! You’re lucky there are definitely more dangerous places for that to happen.
Wow! That is scary!
holy shit. Your lucky it wasn’t a failure during a jump or riding some trails. That could be a nasty spill. Hopefully race face warranty will hook you up with a new one. I’ve read threads on mtbr of early model turbine stems failing in the same way yours did. The torque specs are printed behind that front piece that cracked on you.
I’ve got a turbine 35mm stem and bar. Will have to give it a good inspection tomorrow.
Is that a 31.8 or 35mm clamp stem?
Also, that’s the bike rack at Michelin Waterville isn’t it? I work there too.
It was a 31.8 from, I assume 2014. I was actually on a trail and the fastest downhill section and had just popped off a tall root when I heard a loud crack and the handlebars turned in my hands. I slowly braked to a stop. It’s still holding the bars, so I’m going to tape it up and limp home in the morning.
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Noticed the same thing forming on the front of a thomson faceplate. Sometimes the cheap stuff is best. go figure.
happened to mine in the middle of a bikepacking trip. raceface was good about replacing it, though. just send them a photo of the serial number on the inside. i think there was an issue with a certain run of the faceplate clamps which were too thin. the new clamps are noticeably thicker.
ps - i used a torque wrench and made sure all was to spec. just a faulty batch.
Thanks. I was wondering if it was worth the effort or if I could trust this product on my bike. It sounds like its worth a shot.
So turns out these stems manufactured between 2011 and 2013 are the subject of a voluntary recall. I’m having trouble getting any store to help me with this because I didn’t buy the bike from a store. I’ve tried to contact RaceFace myself and received no reply. I’m trying again today. I hate to think that they would ignore someone using a product they know is defective. If you have one on your bike I would be dealing with it, the thing is not safe. I believe the date of manufacture is at the end of the number on the face plate itself, mine was made in 2012.
Just had a quick look at the RF warranty FAQ, question #2 might answer why you’re having an issue/
http://www.raceface.com/support/warranty-faqs/
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They might tell you to take it where you got it.You can’t send it back to where the bike came from?
From what I’ve read, RF just sends out a replacement faceplate. Depending on when your first e-mail to them was, you might not have heard from them because it was a holiday weekend and office types don’t work Sat/Sun to begin with. They probably have one guy answering a continents worth of e-mails, cut them some slack.
My first message was shortly after the faceplate snapped. Months ago. As for the warranty, yes I read through all the conditions but considering that this is a recall for a part that could cause a fellow to have a really nasty crash, say over the handlebars at Fight,that they would at least have the decency to respond. If I were them I would want to get them all off bikes before someone really gets hurt. It was worth a try.
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Bummer, hopefully they get back to you. I can’t find any mention anywhere of an actual official recall for these stems, just internet babble. With a recall there are official gov’t releases like this: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2017/Specialized-Recalls-Road-Bicycles Both Canada and the US do this all the time. Considering the age of the stem, you’re probably SOL. Maybe RF will hook you up, doesn’t hurt to ask.
It could be similar to a recall I had on a Nissan Xterra that died in a snow storm and would not start. Nissan took care of everything, even a rental and told me it was all covered by my extended warranty which I did not have. It wasn’t until I was given the paperwork that it stated the problem was a recall. I could find nothing online about it. I think the Trek site has a place you can go to find recalls for their products but that’s the only one I’ve ever noticed.
I figured I should provide an update after all the belly aching I was doing about Race Face. I was contacted by them about a week after the email and asked for a photo of the number inside the faceplate, which I sent with the original email months ago. They are now sending me a new faceplate. It guess it pays to try more than once and to be patient while waiting for a response.
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Happy Days. A few years ago I had a 25.4mm Thomson faceplate crack. I went to buy a replacement and the Canadian distributor doesn’t carry that size any more.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you fork out the cash for a high end component and something like that happens and you find yourself having to do it again. I replaced the stem with a Spank. It looks like it can handle some abuse, I didn’t even look to see how heavy it is.