In the middle of hanging out with the Hayes/Manitou crew, ripper Geoff Gulevich let us check out his Manitou equipped Rocky Mountain which also happened to be wearing some new parts from Joystick. As a Joystick team rider and now the team manager, Geoff has been testing some new parts including the Digger stem, 8-bit LT aluminum bars and their new lock on grips.
Details on the bars, stem and grips after the break…
Even though it’s called the Digger, Joystick’s new stem is designed with All Mountain, Enduro, Slopestyle, and even XC in mind. Developed to offer an alloy and carbon friendly bar/stem interface, the stem uses a large, curved faceplate the wraps around the bars. Called the controlled clamping system, the design supposedly eliminates stress risers and makes it easier to install your bars. Gully’s stem is an early prototype, which Joystick pointed out the fact that it is running bolts from a local supplier. The final versions will have improved, high end hardware.
Weights and prices aren’t available yet, but they say it’s light enough for XC, but strong enough for freeriding. The stem is clamping a new 8-Bit Alloy LT bar which looks to be a lighter version of their current 8-bit Alloy.
Geoff was also running the new Joystick lock-on grips which use a double locking collar design. Friendly to both carbon and aluminum bars, the grips have a narrow profile that tapers down at each end for a comfy, slim grip.
Thanks to Geoff for showing us the goods, and follow ridejoystick.com to keep up to date on the new parts.
