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Engin Cycles starts offering their own precision MTB stems for 35mm bars

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Engin Cycles was started by Drew Guldalian in 2005 to make what he couldn’t find – even through his own bike shop, Wissahikon Cyclery. A similar need led to their own components including a seat collar that would provide the proper amount of torque to keep dropper posts from binding, but keep the post in place. Now, Engin Cycles is unveiling their second component available for direct purchase – a stem for 35mm bars.

Engin Cycles 35mm mtb stem with seat collar

 

Wanting to make a stem that would match the form of their seat collar, the 35mm MTB Stem uses similar design language with a asymmetric details.

Engin Cycles 35mm mtb stem on Drew's bike

Engin Cycles 35mm mtb stem side

Anyone can make a ‘stem’, but for Engin it had to be precise and provide the exact torque needed to hold, but not crush, carbon bars. To that end, Engin uses a “no gap” style face plate that is supposedly easier to properly tighten than stems that require you to maintain an even gap. The design is also said to “spread clamping forces evenly around the bar clamp, holding firmly, with less risk of crushing high end carbon bars”.

Engin Cycles 35mm mtb stem back purple

Like the seat collar, the stem is made from domestically sourced 6061 aluminum and machined at Engin Cycles HQ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Engin Cycles 35mm mtb stem with zinc coated bolts

As usual, Drew has focused on every detail including form tapping each hole for improved strength and longevity over standard threads, and optimizing both bores for all bars and steerer tubes. Engin also points out that they have chosen a Class 12.9 zinc steel bolt instead of the typical stainless steel used on most high end stems. Why? They claim that Stainless has a lower tensile strength than alloyed steel while its hardness properties present the opportunity for deformation at the tool interface. The zinc coated bolts still have high corrosion resistance while better resisting ’rounding out’ at the bolt head.

Finally, the stems have been extensively tested by Engin staff as well as independently tested through ACT labs.

Engin Cycles 35mm mtb stem line up

Offered in four anodized colors to match the seat collars, Engin has added two new colors this time around with Lime Green and Matte Brown. Riders will have their choice of 32, 40, and 50mm stem lengths, all of which are priced at $195 and available directly from Engin Cycles.

Specs

  • Steer Clamp: 28.6mm
  • Stack Height: 40mm
  • Bar Clamp Width: 50mm
  • Handlebar clamp: 35mm
  • Steerer clamp: 1 1/8″
  • Offset: 5mm +/-
  • Bolt Torque: 5nm MAX
  • Weights: 32 mm – 135g, 40 mm – 147g, 50 mm – 181g
  • Material: 6061 Aluminum
  • Made in: Philadelphia, PA

engincycles.com

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14 Comments
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Visa
Visa
3 years ago

How would you round off a bolt head at 5Nm?

pixls
pixls
3 years ago
Reply to  Visa

blown out tools mostly, believe me, if you’ve spent any time working in a shop, all kinds of bolts come in rounded out like crazy.

Seraph
Seraph
3 years ago

Holy stack height Batman! o_O

Quick Google McSearch
Quick Google McSearch
3 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

Stack height from Engin website it 40mm. That seem pretty standard for a stem like this.

Enve, Thomson, Raceface, and many more all seem to have a 40, 41, or 42mm stack height.

Saw a few stems for 35mm bars with a 38, 35mm stack height.

Seraph
Seraph
3 years ago

I guess I’m used to Syntace and Deity with their relatively low stack heights. Maybe it’s also the look of the stem, all blocky-like.

John
John
3 years ago

That looks really cool, and they come in BROWN!! With all the problems getting parts sourced out of Asia, the fact that these are actually available and priced well puts them on my short list for this winters upgrades. How about topcaps in matching colors?

pixls
pixls
3 years ago
Reply to  John

we’ve talked about top caps, but we love how the white industries ones look, and for black/purp it’s a great match, but if there’s demand i’m sure we would consider making a nice top cap

AEL III
AEL III
3 years ago

Sounds legit. Another alternative is always good. A little better is always good. Made in the USA is very good!

Chris Elliott
Chris Elliott
3 years ago
Reply to  AEL III

Hate to be a Donny-Downer but using an international standard aluminium alloy, with off the shelf tooling and parts bin bolts pretty much means that “country of origin” makes zero difference to the form or function of the product.

Dave
Dave
3 years ago
Reply to  Chris Elliott

Chris, we support Engin cycles, folks that live and work in the country. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, great contribution.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

Interesting asymmetry of the area around the top of the steerer clamp – does it provide some protection against bight/crush?

Design engineer
Design engineer
3 years ago

is this a joke ?
195$ for a stem : ugly, heavy, not optimised, look at areas around the screw heads,
sharp angles, cheapest material (6061) stem ?

stevie962870553
3 years ago

a pittance to someone who is already spending the $ to get an Engin frame, but yes it’s outrageous as a standalone aftermarket part. i see the components coming out from the likes of Engin and Firefly as i see olympic track bikes: technically they ARE available to anyone who wants them, but they’re priced to make sense only in very particular markets(government funded olympic programs and people who are committed to spending 5 figures on a custom bike).

you can find usa designed and produced cnc’d stems for $65 all day long. the market: bmx, where even a fully custom us-made bike doesn’t crack $2k.

Jason
Jason
3 years ago

The craftspeople have everything to do with what they make out of standard materials and hardware. Where they live can lead one to conclusions but is by no means a guarantee of quality.

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