I have been riding the Spank Spike Race stem and Spike 777FR Bearclaw signature series handlebars for a over 6 months now. As you can see in my preview I had my doubts about them at first, but once I opened the package my concerns were put to rest. Read more to find out how they lasted in this long term review.

I mounted these on my Banshee Prime and installed them without any issues. Well..I thought I had no issues till I took it to the shop to get the steer tube on my X-Fusion forks cut to the proper length. Unlike any other stem I have used, it seems need a spacer under the top cap to have it sit properly, the good news is they include it, but I just thought that was a little weird.

Other than that all the mounting hardware for the stem was quality and the stem or any of the hardware shows any signs of wear after the abuse I put it through. It is still as beautiful now as it was the day I mounted it on the bike, and in that time I have taken the bike on many trips and take the stem and bars off a few times while servicing the bike.

Once mounted I did not have to mess with it at all, the four bolts that held the faceplate on have stayed tight and the bars have not slipped at all, that can be attributed to the large 55mm clamping surface. The stem has not budged on the steer tube either, once set up properly it stays in place. The bolts are at the back of the stem, but they have designed in such a way they there is nothing really sticking out waiting for you to mess up and slice your knees or any other body part, very nice design.

The stem is a short 35mm and I don’t think I would want anything longer on my current setup, as well it has a fairly low stack height of 35mm with a 0 degree rise. They offer this stem in many different colours and lengths to fit your ride.

Next up I mounted the bars, again no issues with the setup. They have stayed in place through shuttle runs, lift access days, lots of XC and AM (or Enduro if you roll that way) and through the wet and cold winter and the hot and dusty summer….I have put this setup through it’s paces. No slippage of the bars in the stem and I prefer to use lock on grips and have not had any issues with them moving on the bars at all. They have eaten dirt more than I would have liked them to and every time just want me to ride them harder.

I was running some wide Chromag bars (780mm) and for some reason these feel wider at 777mm, maybe it’s the extra 5mm rise (the Spikes have 30mm vs the 25mm of the OSX) or the 1 degree less of upsweep that the Spikes have…but it feels wider. So much so that I keep on thinking of cutting them down just a touch…not because they are uncomfortable but I have hit trees with them more than I did with old bars…too bad I sold them as I would love to feel the difference back to back.

Conclusion:

I would recommend the Spank Spike 777FR Bearclaw and Spike Race stem to anyone looking for a strong, relatively light, and good looking bar/stem combination. There are bigger names out there but for the money you get a great product that is strong, dependable, looks awesome and wont break the bank.

For real world weights and full rundown of product specs see the preview post.Check out the Spank websiteAbout the Author____________________________________________You can purchases these parts and support the author at the same time, just click the links below and buy the parts from Amazon for a great price, shipped to your door and we also get a few bucks from each sale to buy some post ride bevvies….we both win!Spank Spike 777 HandlebarSpank Spike Race Stem