We’ll say now that picking our favourite direct mount stem was a tough call because there are a whole pile of great offerings out there now, but this Straitline one stood out just enough to take the prize.

A large percentage of what swayed it might well have been down to its great aesthetics, but that wouldn’t count for anything if the performance didn’t match…and it does. We like the fact that it’s a bombproof two–piece design rather than a three–piece one, and despite Straitline taking that design approach it still only weighs in at 137g.

For the sake of a few grams more than the lightest offerings out there we’d take the dependable nature of this stem any day. We also like the fact that it’s nice and low, plus the flush mounting bar clamp which reduces unwanted stress on bars also looks very neat.

Price: £99.99
Hotlines 01313 191 444
www.straitlinecomponents.com