Zipp Service Course SL stem

This Zipp Service Course SL stem looks good, does its job without any fuss and features some high quality hardware - but at £90 it's a lot of money for an alloy unit.

The Service Course SL is forged from 7075 aluminium and it's available in eight lengths (70mm to 140mm) and two rises (+/-6° and +/-17°) so you should be able to get one fitted to your bike just so. There are two colourways too, although both of them are basically gloss black; ours had white etched logos and you can have black ones if you prefer stealth. That's (mental maths) 32 different versions.

Zipp claim a weight of 120g; ours (a 110mm stem with a 6° rise) was a touch heavier than that at 128g but that's still reasonably light. Certainly with the minimal front plate and open clamp to the rear there's not too much extraneous metal. The weight is reduced further by using Titanium bolts; they're a Torx T25 head which Zipp use for "precision torque readings and ease of adjustment". They're only easy to adjust if you remembered your Torx key though, so make sure your multitool has one: not all do. I'd suggest that keeping your bolt and stem threads clean is more important to an accurate torque reading than any difference between a T25 and a 4mm Allen head.

Fitting the Service Course SL stem was no faff at all and in use it performed faultlessly. You don't really notice a stem unless it's doing something badly, and the Zipp didn't put a foot wrong. It's plenty stiff enough to deal with handlebar wrestling on the climbs and sprints and it didn't creak or loosen. The finish is very good quality and it'll look just so on your shiny race bike.

It's ninety quid though. That's an awful lot for an alloy stem. It's pricier than other high-end units like the techy Thomson Elite X2 Road and the 100g Ritchey WCS C260, and more than twice as much as solid mid-range units like the Pro PLT, which will do the same job very well and doesn't weigh appreciably more. If you really wanted Titanium Torx bolts you could upgrade the lot for about a tenner.

Obviously if you wanted a carbon stem you could pay more – a LOT more, Zipp's own SL Speed unit costs three times what this one does – so in terms of the whole gamut of stems it's not ridiculously expensive. But if half the pro peloton is happy to stick with alloy you might as well save your cash for an upgrade elsewhere. If you think the Zipp will suit your particular steed, and you don't mind paying the asking price (you can have one for less than £70 online) then it certainly won't let you down.

Verdict

Nice looking alloy stem that's finely crafted and performs very well, but still expensive for what it is.