Renthal Apex Stem

I love the classic look of the Renthal bar and stem combo.  The stem is light and stiff, no creaks, cracks or corrosion in 6 months of use on my long travel bike.  The stem will spin on the fork in a heavy crash, but I've only done that once and everything looked fine after and hasn't moved since.  The price is a touch high, but I expect the stem to last as long as the bike, not a lot of mtb parts like that anymore.

my review, for more in-depth look and pictures. https://wp.me/p60aTF-2t5

If the bolts were perfect it would be nice.

I can recommend this stem, This stem seems likea great option if youwant lightweight, durable, stiffness, This is one of the lightest stems the market now, and it’s robust, Apex35 Will go on my next bike(s).

Usually I wouldn't have much to say about a stem as they usually should just work and you don't notice them. 

The Renthall Apex stem definitely gets noticed because it looks great, it has been well designed (mostly) and really well made. The bolts are quality too.

The handlebar clamps with the wrap around feature are great. It makes the handlebar easy to fit and torque correctly.

The steerer clamp is probably the weak point of the design. I think in the pursuit of lightness they took too much material out of the bands which sacrifices grip strength. I've seen a lot of people over tighten these probably due to this fact. I run mine a little over the torque setting to keep ensure the grip strength is there. I have had it shift on me but thankfully going uphill on a switchback. Apart from that no issues. 

I bought this stem along with the carbon fatbar. what a pretty setup.  i unfortunately was in the process of figuring out my front end and was taking the stem on and off quite regularly.  i think due to that i weakened the steering clamp side and both clamps ended up breaking off.  this all happened while on a ride.  thank god i was climbing and not descending.  to put some people at ease,  i have to say that if you've got you're bike well set and you don't mess with things as much as i do, you will likely love this stem and have no issues.  id say its probably more of a trail stem but i see richie rude running one in the ews which shuts down any further opinions i may have on strength.  thats why i feel the failure i had was due to excessive loosening and tightening.  

A great lightweight stem that would be solid for 95% of riders, but I personally feel it's a stem for a trail bike and not up to the task of being ridden hard
I've only used the 40mm length x 31.6mm bar clamp so this problem may be specific to that variant, but I've managed to break two in 14 months doing what would colloquially described as "enduro" riding on very rough rocky terrain (New England and NC). Wasn't a catastrophic failure, but a stress crack developed on the top edge of the central bore, visible if you remove the bars.  Or, if it gets big enough and propagates out, you can see it with the bar installed.  First was covered under warranty, second happened just outside the warranty period, now it's a paperweight.  I'm 185lbs geared up and ride relatively smoothly too