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Easton Haven stem review

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$100

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Easton Haven

BikeRadar verdict

4 out of 5 stars

"It looks tough, is tough and is priced well. We predict the Haven will appear on lots of bikes in 2011"

2 comments
Tue 15 Feb 2011, 2:00 pm GMTBy

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Haven is part of Easton’s revamped all-mountain line-up designed to combine stiffness and light weight while turning heads. The CNC machined stem grabs attention with its champagne/black body and face plate.

The curvaceous face plate is designed to distribute stresses evenly and prevent hotspots on the handlebars. It employs Easton’s Top Lock technology to hold one edge of the face plate snugly to the stem body during tightening, to help you tighten the bolts evenly and clamp the bar more securely.

The Haven costs the same as the Thomson X4 – the benchmark for this type of stem. They’re matched in terms of build quality and stiffness too. We used the Haven on a hardtail and a 5in-travel trail bike to get a feel for its character and, even with a 660mm-wide riser bar, flex was negligible. The stem didn’t look out of place on the carbon hardtail and is light enough at 145g to work on a cross-country race bike.

What's the score with BikeRadar reviews? You can find a full explanation of our ratings here.

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User Reviews

There are 2 reviews on this post

Showing 1 - 2 of 2 comments

  • I've been using Thomson X4 stems for years and have noticed with the additional of wider bars (750mm Renthals) that my 50mm X4 was feeling a little flexy in really hard corners on DH runs and occasionally gave odd clicking noises when cranking the bars over (despite torque wrench being used on all bolts) or landing big dirt jumps

    I've switched to a 55m Easton Haven stem and it basically looks like a more modern version of the X4 with a wider face plate and wider stem body, and despite coming in 40 gm+ lighter, it definitely feels more solid / stiff with the 750mm with no hint or flext or clicking

    I've also got the Renthal Duo 50mm on my other bike, where I also had a Thomson X4 50mm with 750mm bars

    the Renthal is noticeably more solid / stiff than the X4 it replaced, it feels about the same as the Easton Haven and is still lighter than the Thomson

    The Thomson is a lovely looking stem and a design classic but could perhaps benefit from increased width to deal with wider bars which put more leverage onto the stem clamp and body?

  • £80 is well priced? Planet on you live which????

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Specification

Name:
Haven (11)
Built by:
Easton
Price:
$100.00

Description:
Stack height: 40mm. Options: 55, 70, 85, 100mm
Weight (g):
145 g
Available Colours:
Black/Champagne
Length (mm):
85 mm

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