Outland R31Eight stem review

Twenty quid doesn’t get you much these days but it will bag you an oversized stem from the Raleigh Parts and Accessories stable. 

In this price range though the R31Eight is 15g lighter than its closest rival, the Cinelli Vai XL, but the quality isn’t as high. The edges of the bar clamp are just way too sharp (as your bars flex the edges of the bar clamp effectively dig into them, not good), although this can be fixed with careful use of a fine file. 

The rear bolts are standard cap head Allen bolts, and they stick out quite alarmingly. Replace those with domed head bolts and the whole thing would be much better. On the plus side, it’s stiff, very affordable, and the little problems are easy to sort out.