DESIGN

Enve claim that they have scrapped more prototypes of the AM stem than any other product in their range. They wanted a design with no compromises, so they kept at it till they felt they had a carbon bodied stem that was capable of all-mountain or enduro use with the now favourable 800mm width bars. Many stems designed and tested a few years back were in an era where 750mm was seen as a wide width.

Quoted at 92g (and weighing in on our Dirt scales at 87g) this dinky 40mm stem is carbon bodied with an aluminium faceplate and finished off with titanium bolts. We’re not XC weight weenies but if a product promises strength, long term reliability and no compromises with a feathery weight then we’re all for it.

SPECIFICATION

Dimensions are also bang on for us here at Dirt. A 31.8mm bar clamp is the only size offered and we’re more than happy with this. We’ve been running 35mm clamp cockpits and aren’t always convinced they should be the future and maybe only an option but time will tell. Lengths that interest us are the 40mm and 55mm (although a 70mm and longer are offered) with a +/-6 degree rise, allowing the stem to be flipped and the ride height dropped, useful on a 29er but not as extreme as the Syntace FlatForce 44 stem. The stack height of 37mm is a few mm lower than many stems too.

Weight is low, really low. This may well be the lightest stem we’ve had through the Dirt office door and certainly the lightest that is capable of heavy use. How does 87g compare? Well the nearest we’ve had is the Answer AME 30mm (actual length 31mm) stem at 100g and just for a comparison a Renthal Apex 31mm stem weighs 105g. Who’s arguing over 5g eh? It’s more about the stiffness, durability and finish more than a tiny bit of weight.

This is what Enve promises though. Astonishingly low weight with utter dependability. A finish worthy of a top-end custom build (matching your Enve rims nicely) and the stiffness to cope with the leverage that an 800mm handlebar dishes out. No compromises.

So what’s the catch then? Well it’s a big one and that salty subject of money. At £240 this is as expensive as most production stems get and one for those very special builds. Like the Thomson titanium bar we featured in the 2016 Dirt 100 it’s off the scale price-wise for most of us, but is a truly desirable piece of equipment.

PRICE: £240

enve.com

saddleback.co.uk