TEN OF THE BEST STEMS FOR YOUR MOUNTAIN BIKE

Your mountain bike’s stem does more than just attach your handlebars to the fork’s steerer tube – it has a dramatic effect on your fit and the handling of the bike. It’s an important tool for dialing in a bike to your personal needs and preferences. Choosing the right stem can be complicated though so be sure to check out our feature on the science of stems here.

DEITY COPPERHEAD
A cult classic among enduro racers and freeriders alike, the Deity Copperhead stem is a high-quality piece of kit that is CNC-machined from a solid block of 6061 T6 aluminum and has a high-polished anodized finish. It’s available in both 31.8mm and 35mm clamping options to accommodate both handlebar diameters and the fairly low 33mm stack allows for fine-tuning of your stem height on your steerer tube. The Copperhead stem also has a 55mm clamping platform that evenly distributes forces and securely holds the bars in place, even on the roughest landings. It’s available in three different lengths—35mm, 42.5mm and 50mm—to accommodate a range of rider preferences and frame sizes, and comes in nine different anodized colors.
Price: $105
Contact: www.deitycomponents.com

YOSHIMURA ENDH
Yoshimura is primarily known for its premium motorcycle exhausts and accessories, but it’s also been making waves in the mountain bike world with its Chilao SS pedals and ENDH stem. The ENDH stem is a unique offering, letting you run it as a traditional stem on single-crown bikes or as a direct mount on downhill and dual-crown bikes. It has 35mm of rise and is offered in 37mm, 42mm and 47mm lengths in the single-crown configuration. The ENDH is only available in a 35mm diameter and features a wide 63mm handlebar clamp that provides better stability and security, and the low 23.5mm stack gives you more freedom in adjusting the stem height on the steerer tube. Yoshimura also sells the handlebar clamp mounts separately, so you can experiment with different stem lengths without having to buy a whole new setup. The ENDH stem is machined from 6061-T6 aluminum in six different colors, uses stainless steel hardware, and is made in the USA.
Price: $199
Contact: www.yoshimuracycling.com

RENTHAL APEX
Renthal has been a namesake in the motorcycle and mountain bike industries for many years, and their Apex stem is no exception. It’s their most refined single-crown stem and combines strength, stiffness, and lightweight. The Apex stem body is fully CNC-machined from solid billet 2014 aluminum, and the clamps are machined from 7075 aluminum for added strength. It uses a unique 240-degree clamp that slides on from the outer part of the handlebars, which Renthal says allows more of the stem-body material to be removed to lower the weight while still remaining strong and stiff. The lower clamps use a “zero gap” design to give the bars the most secure fit. The stem is available in a range of lengths in both 31.8mm and 35mm diameters with a 40mm stack height, from 31mm to 60mm in 10mm increments. It can also be run in either orientation, which lets the stem have either 6 degrees of rise or 6 degrees of drop to further dial in the fit. Renthal offers the Apex stem in a single colorway, their classic black and gold, to give it a clean and aesthetically pleasing look.
Price: $140
Contact: www.renthal.com

PNW LOAM STEM
PNW Components had the Range stem in its lineup for quite a while, but they thought it was about time for a proper CNC option in multiple colors that would pair with their Loam carbon handlebar, so the Loam stem was born. Aggressively priced at $100, it is available in both 31.8mm and 35mm clamping diameters along with 32mm or 40mm lengths, depending on your preference and riding style. PNW offers the Loam stem in four different anodized colors—black, pewter silver, orange and purple—so there’s an option to have it match your handlebar decals, or you can mix and match to make your rig one of a kind.
Price: $100
Contact: www.pnwcomponents.com

TRAIL ONE COMPONENTS ROCKVILLE
An offshoot of Worldwide Cyclery and a newcomer to the mountain bike world, Trail One Components offers a gamut of components, many of which are made in the United States. They also donate $1 for every product sold to non-profit trail-building organizations. The Rockville stem is their premium single-crown stem offering, machined from 6061-T6 aluminum, anodized and laser-etched in California. It’s only available in a 35mm clamping diameter, and they offer the stem in either a 32mm or 40mm length in five different color combinations, including a beautifully anodized bronze. The Rockville stem has a 41mm stack height to balance stability and versatility, and it has 0 degrees of rise on both sizes. Trail One claims the 32mm stem weighs 144 grams, and the 40mm weighs 157 grams.
Price: $135
Contact: www.trailone.bike

ONEUP
Keeping with the theme of simple names, the OneUp stem is a sleek and aesthetically pleasing mountain bike stem that is built for everything from long trail rides to enduro racing and freeride. Available only in a 35mm clamping diameter, the stem is machined from 6061-T6 aluminum and has a wide 55mm bar-clamp width to offer a solid and confidence-inspiring fit. Like many other stems on this list, it has 0 degrees of rise and a balanced 39mm stack height. OneUp says the stem will work with most 35mm handlebars, but it’s truly designed to be the perfect companion to their range of carbon and alloy bars. It’s available in 35mm, 42mm, and 50mm lengths to fit a range of bikes and rider preferences, but OneUp only offers the stem in a Matte Black finish to match their minimalist aesthetic.
Price: $90
Contact: www.oneupcomponents.com

BURGTEC ENDURO MK3
Hailing from England, Burgtec has been a mainstay for bike components for many years, appealing to both racers and freeriders. The Enduro MK3 stem is the third iteration of their single-crown stem and is CNC-machined in the UK from 6061-T6 aluminum, making it both strong and fairly lightweight. It comes in 31.8mm and 35mm clamping diameters and three different lengths (35mm, 42.5mm, and 50mm), along with 0 degrees of rise across the sizes. The Enduro MK3 stem is available in nine different colors, from a clean Matte Black to Toxic Barbie Pink, letting you have a low-key cockpit setup or something that will stand out on the trails. The 31.8mm stem is only available in black, however. In contrast to some of the other stems in this month’s “Buyer’s Guide,” the Burgtec stem has a taller 48mm stack height, which they claim distributes the clamping force over more of the steerer tube and leads to a more secure fit.
Price: $125
Contact: www.burgtec-usa.com

INDUSTRY NINE A-SERIES
Industry Nine and their high-quality wheels and hubs are well known throughout the mountain bike world, so it’s no surprise that their A-Series stems would be made with the same ethos and attention to detail. Machined, anodized and assembled in their Asheville, North Carolina, facility from 7075 aluminum billet, the A-Series stem is available in both 31.8mm and 35mm diameters and 11 different colors that you can mix and match on their website. The 31.8mm stem is offered in 30mm, 40mm and 50mm lengths with 4.5mm of rise, while the 35mm one is available in 32mm, 40mm, and 50mm lengths with 6mm of rise. It has a wide clamping surface that provides 180 degrees of contact between the handlebar and stem body, ensuring twist-free security for both alloy and carbon handlebars. The A-Series stems don’t skimp on hardware either, using six high-strength 316 stainless steel custom M5 bolts to hold the face plate in place and secure the stem to the steerer tube.
Price: $155
Contact: www.industrynine.com

RACE FACE TURBINE R 35
Race Face has garnered a strong reputation over the years for producing high-quality and durable mountain bike components that won’t break the bank, and the Turbine R 35 stem is no exception. As the name implies, it’s only available with a 35mm handlebar clamp, but Race Face offers the stem in 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 60mm, and 70mm lengths to cover the gamut of rider preferences and riding styles. The Turbine R is machined from a high-quality 7075 series aluminum and is designed to be lightweight yet incredibly strong to hold up to EDR-level trails and big days in the bike park. It uses Race Face’s overbite faceplate design, which has you completely tighten the top bolts and then torque the bottom bolts to evenly and securely attach the bars to the stem. Available in nine different anodized colors, the Turbine R has 0 degrees of rise in all lengths and has a 42mm stack height.
Price: $110
Contact: www.raceface.com

SPANK SPLIT
Spank Industries is another well-established mountain bike component company that produces quality and fair-priced wheels, hubs, stems and handlebars, among other things. The Split stem is their top-of-the-line single-crown offering made from 6-series alloy. It has a 3D-forged and CNC-optimized body, which Spank claims reduces the stem’s weight and increases its strength. The Split stem is available in both 31.8mm and 35mm clamping diameters and comes in four different lengths with 5mm jumps in between (33mm, 38mm, 43mm, and 48mm). A cockpit setup index is laser-etched onto the stem, which helps with dialing in your handlebar sweep and allows for a consistent setup each time you need to remove your handlebars, while the short 34mm stack height and zero degrees of rise allows for lots of flexibility in setting your stem height on the steerer tube. Spank offers the Split stem in nine different colors, so you can have it blend in with the rest of your build or make it stand out and make a statement.
Price: $100
Contact: www.spank-ind.com