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review

KCNC SC Wing stem

7
£61.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Super-light alloy stem that'll appeal to budget-conscious weight weenies
Weight: 
96g
Contact: 
www.clee-cycles.co.uk

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It's hard to make a Carbon stem as stiff as an alloy one at the same weight. It gets harder when KCNC are knocking out units like this that are sub-100g and are still plenty stiff. Some of that weight saving comes in the form of some rather fiddly bolts so there's a bit of an ease-of-use trade off

We had the 90mm incarnation of the SC Wing which weighed in at an almost worrying 96g, but fitted to a bike with some standard bars it proved itself to be more than stiff enough to deal with the daily grind. Constructed from the same T-7451 alloy as the SC Force handlebars, it's machined to save a few grams and supplied with 3mm Titanium allen bolts which are a bit of a fiddle to tighten and would be easy to round if you don't have a high quality set of keys. They're coated in Ti-prep too, which makes them squeak and stick when you're tightening them, but that's better than having them seize later on.

I was sceptical as to whether they'd save that much weight, but the scales of truth showed they were only 11g to 22g for some standard bolts, so fair enough: it's the difference between sub 100g and not. A more standard 110mm length does sneak over the 100g mark – just – but it's still a very, very light stem and not particularly expensive. If low weight is your ultimate aim then this is definitely a stem to consider, but it doesn't have the wider appeal of some of the other KCNC stuff.

Verdict

Super-light alloy stem that'll appeal to budget-conscious weight weenies

road.cc test report

Make and model: KCNC SC Wing stem

Size tested: 90mm

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
6/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
10/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Did you enjoy using the product? It was okay apart from the fiddly bolts

Would you consider buying the product? No, but i'm not weight obsessed

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes depending on their needs

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 190cm  Weight: 96kg

I usually ride: whatever I\\\'m testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with Ultegra 6700

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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