Product

S&M REDNECK STEM – REVIEW

It wouldn’t be a product guide without the S&M Redneck stem. (Or Shredneck, we’ll take it.) It’s the iconic front load BMX stem.

S&M is a true BMX brand. It doesn’t get much more real than S&M. Founded by a pair of wild teenagers in 1987 (Swingrover & Moeller) they’d already had enough experience with BMX race frames to know that they needed something better and were prepared to try and make it themselves. So began the history of S&M aka The Shield… In 1988 the Slam Bars were introduced, 1989 saw the Dirt Bike, and everything pretty much rocketed from there. With the departure of Swingrover in 1990, Chris Moeller set about running the brand on his own – while riding and partying as much as possible, naturally.

“It wouldn’t be a product guide without the S&M Redneck stem.
(Or Shredneck, we’ll take it.)”

“Since 1990, Moeller has steered the S&M ship through hell and high water. Crazy nights, ideas and antics aside, the goal at S&M has always been the same: to make good bikes and run things their way. With American flags and middle fingers waving in the wind, S&M will continue to sail the seas of BMX cheese until other companies make bikes as good as theirs or it’s not fun anymore. Neither of which looks likely to happen soon.” –S&M

The original S&M Redneck stem came out in 1992. CNC machined from a solid billet of 7075-T6 aluminium with ‘REDNECK’ engraved across the top, it only came in red (‘Redneck’ – simple) and like the rest of S&M’s products was proudly made in the USA.

It’s seen many refinements in the last 25 years but it remains fundamentally the same. Don’t fix what ain’t broken, as they say. This latest version, the Shredneck, has a shorter reach (50mm) and slightly less drop. S&M say it’s a refined Redneck. Whatever, it’s still an S&M Redneck to us, so it’s still a classic.