General: Cracked Thomson Stem...

I've heard of it happening several times before online, but never thought it would happen to me. After inspecting my Thomson X2 stem today to see why my bars keep slipping (ALL my handlebars have slipped since I started using this stem), I noticed a crack in the faceplate. It was not the crack that was causing the slippage however. The stem says to torque to 45lbs, but at that torque you can just stand next to your bike and push the bars down, so they must be tightened more...so that is probably what caused the crack. Also, when tightening down, even with the bolts greased, they always made a loud popping/creaking sound the last bit of the tightening.

Between all my bars always slipping, a faceplate that has cracked for tons of people, and bolts that creak and pop when tighten down...I would NOT recommend the Thomson X2 stem to anyone.

i have never had any problems with my x2 or the x4 that i use to own. both were great stems and i never had any problems with slippage. were you running the right size bars (^)? if you are sure the crack was not causing the slippage than i can only assume you have been running the size bars.

Of course I was running the right sized bars. If you have an x2 or x4 stem, you should know they only take the 31.8 oversized bars, so it's not like I was running the wrong size because that is the only size you can get.

Are you guys just using the X2 for road bike riding, on smooth roads? Because with racing and also riding in a city full of potholes, I put a lot of weight on the bars when sprinting and on big hills. This has always been what made them slip.

same deal here. no issues with my x2. i do generally try to avoid potholes though, since they tend to give me flats.

email thomson, their customer service is pretty exceptional..
(although.. im sure that was a step you took before seeking help in the forums anyway)