First Look: 2015 ENVE Mountain Stem 13

iceman2058

2/26/2015 12:09am

Taking years to perfect something as seemingly simple as a stem may seem over the top, but should come as no surprise when we're talking about ENVE. And with the officially stated goal being to create a sub-100 gram stem suitable for enduro and all-mountain riding, all that R&D time actually seems more a necessity than a luxury. If there is one area of our bike we don't want to risk any failures in, it's always going to be the cockpit, and with most stems on the market today tipping the scales at around the 150-gram mark, you'd be forgiven for treating ENVE's latest creation with suspicion or at least a healthy dose of scepticism.

This is ENVE's second stem, and like its previous offering, the Mountain Stem is made of carbon. It claims very high strength despite its very light weight, and although we'd have to test it to verify the claim on the ground, we have little reason to doubt ENVE did its homework - they usually do. They also elected to continue to buck the recent 35-mm clamp trend, which means a larger number of existing cockpits out there would be compatible with the new stem, although we suspect most ENVE stem customers will be handlebar customers too...if you're going to make this kind of investment in your stem, you're likely all-in at the carbon table already.

ENVE Mountain Stem Highlights

Unidirectional carbon construction with aluminum faceplate
Reversible for 6 deg. OR -6 deg. rise
Titanium hardware
1.125” steerer tube clamp diameter
31.8-mm handlebar clamp diameter
Weight: from 85-grams (40-mm length) to 104-grams (85-mm length)
MSRP: $270 USD

Getting rid of those last grams and eking out the last bit of performance from a part usually commands a disproportionately heavy premium, and at $270 USD MSRP, the new Mountain Stem is no exception. ENVE claims this is the lightest all-mountain or enduro stem ever produced, which leaves you to decide how much that is worth to you. It's safe to say it looks the part, and we have definitely not been able to dig up any other stem that comes even close to these weights.