Stem Cell Research.

Pete was hopping on the Byker baths flat bar yesterday sliding 5050 and trying to get 180 off the end. on his last try of the day he hopped landed on the rail and instantly went into a super speed Prunetang injected lazy boy grind. At first my brain couldn't comprehend what I was seeing, was this some kind of new trick technology in line with northeast greats like the Fishslice, Heroquest and Slazenger. No. What had happened was Big Popper Pete's pop was so popperific that he had literally ripped his stem in half with his bare hands on the way up. Talk about explosive bunny hop force. He was sliding along the rail with his bars in hand but no longer attached to his bike. After a meter of previously unseen lazy boy grind Pete shot off the back and landed on his ass on the rail. Upon realising what had happened he threw his bars in disgust and partly in disbelief.

Imagine what could have happened if Pete had been travelling at a gap or something involving heaps of speed, the consequences don't bare thinking about. I run the same stem as this, the SandM XLT top loader and after looking where Pete's stem had broke I noticed mine also has hairline cracks in the same place, I'm getting a new one tomorrow. It's just not worth holding on to old components when you have to put your life in their hands on a daily basis. It's worth checking bars forks stems and cranks for cracks regularly, all have the potential to put you in the hospital if they fail. Even the best stuff has the potential for failure eventually, as proven here. I'd trust an SandM part over any other manufacturer and it still broke. Shit just doesn't last forever.