Home > Bike Types > Mountain Bike

Ceetec’s lightweight alloy Phenum The Stem C10 promises unmatched XC MTB stiffness

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, 
11 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Out of Ceetec’s Swiss workshop is a new Phenum The Stem C10 set to complete the MTB race cockpit of XCM World Champion Ramona Forchini’s cross-country bike. Claiming to set new benchmarks for stiffness and lightweight, the angular Phenum Stem C10 is made-in-Europe with a unique mix of alloy manufacturing techniques that Ceetec says boost off-road security and handling precision while remaining super light.

Ceetec lightweight alloy Phenum The Stem C10 mountain bike stem

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, XCM World Champion Ramona Forchini
photos c. Ceetec

While its name is a mouthful, the Phenum The Stem C10 cross-country mountain bike stem made by Ceetec seems to have it covered in a mix of angular good looks, lightweight & made-in-Europe performance. Ceetec says they spent the last 2 years refining the design and their in-house production because they felt like it was the missing link preventing the  direct power transfer and precise handling of their carbon bars from making it to the bike without unnecessary energy loss.

Being picked & presented by a current World Champ in rainbow stripes never hurts either.

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, XCM World Champion Ramona Forchini
c. Mediterranean Epic

And it’s probably a genuine performance choice for Ramona Forchini, since stem sponsorship doesn’t really seem like it would make a great XCO/XCM advertising return on investment. Pretty much every recent race photo from Forchini we’ve seen has her stem covered by a race number, so here’s a shot of her racing the Mediterranean Epic which she won back in March. (To be fair, she’s only just received her new Phenum The Stem C10, so we’d have to wait for race photos anyway.)

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, testing
c. Bike Test Aachen

Ceetec again has again sent the new stem to independent Bike Test Aachen to see how strong it is, like they did with their superlight XC & DH bars. And again BTA says they had to create a new tougher test, setting a new benchmark for MTB stem stiffness and durability after a marathon 24hr, 1.72million cycle fatigue test with 630N applied to the Phenum stem.

OK, stories aside, let’s talk details…

Phenum C10 – Tech details

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem

The design of the stem was focused entirely on providing stiffness & power transfer, down to its boxy profile, 1-piece split face design, and smooth wide bar clamp.

The Phenum C10 stem is made from what Ceetec calls “Full C10 Metal Matrix Technology”, which is a proprietary process of CNC-machining 7000 series aluminum, and then post-processing it via quenching & tempering to get the most strength out of the aluminum. It then gets a 3-step anodizing & surface treatment process that leaves a smooth ‘carbon-like’ matte look that fits well with Ceetec’s superlight Phenum C10 carbon bars.

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, side view

The Phenum C10 stem comes only in a -18° profile designed for 29er mountain bikers looking to slam that stem, and in four stem lengths – 70/80/90/100mm. The alloy stem has claimed weights of 100g / 107g / 114g / 121g, respectively.

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, top view

It features titanium hardware (black or gold), a 1 1/8″ steerer tube stack of 41mm, and 31.8mm bar clamp width of 50.5mm.

Ceetec alloy mountain bike stem – Pricing, options & availability

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, gold

Lightweight, high performance, and in-house manufacturing by a Swiss company focused on elite racing doesn’t come cheap. The lightweight alloy Phenum C10 stem sells for 349 CHF (~$390 / 318€) and is available now direct from Ceetec, Phenum, or their partner bike shops. With that you also get a special stainless steel stem tool kit that allows you to slightly open up the faceplate gap for easier bar installation without scratching it.

Ceetec Phenum The Stem C10 lightweight alloy XC XCM mountain bike stem, world champ kit

Ceetec.ch or Phenum.ch

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

11 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
None Given
None Given
2 years ago

I was bleeding on the exact same knee for probably the exact same reason just yesterday……

gregoryvanthomas
2 years ago

Intend stems for $200,
Newmen stems for $120ish.
Both significantly lighter.
They all show a nice convergence of design for optimal stem shaping.

Jason D West
Jason D West
2 years ago

Yikes -18. Too hardcore for me.

Seraph
Seraph
2 years ago

$390? For an alloy stem? $280 for an Enve M7.

Arek
Arek
2 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

That stem makes about as much $ense as an Enve one – way overpriced, not super light, hyped up marketing with questionable real-world benefit.

Seraph
Seraph
2 years ago
Reply to  Arek

On a road bike, the Enve stem is pretty nice for its vibration dampening qualities. However there are other carbon stems out there that cost less and also ride nice as well.

Mike
Mike
2 years ago

FYI, Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) is not just 7000 series alloy being heat treated. In this instance, MMC consists of aluminium alloy as the matrix, with ceramic particles as reinforcement.

X-Lite UK manufactured MMC seat post years ago before the untimely passing of its founder.

FWIW, my Uno Advances Project upgraded with titanium bolts is less than 100g for a size 90mm. It’s 3D forged and CNC machined. At a fraction of the price.

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

everyone here beat me to the price punch. This piece proves yet again that if you use enough cool sounding technical terms, there is no shame in pricing.

Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict
2 years ago

That’s phenumenally expensive for a stem. Nice to see they did all of the third party endurance testing.

Mogg
Mogg
2 years ago

understand all the “yikes – way too expensive” comments. But you’re all forgetting: it’s Swiss made!

Matthias
Matthias
2 years ago

That thing is light-ish alright considering its length – but *stiff*? Gimme a break. We use carbon handlebars precisely because they’re flexy, so between your hands and the rim most of the flex is probably in the handlebar with the wheel a close second and everything else including the stem absolutely irrelevant. But yeah, some people also believe their choice of $500 unobtainium-doped hand-forged-on-a-full-moon silver plugs for their stereo was based on audiophile performance.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.