Having a publicly available email address means tons of spam. I often find myself cleaning out our BikeRumor email box and trashing everything from messages in foreign languages to press releases that have nothing to do with cycling. However, once in a while we get a gem in the inbox. Today I came across a pretty cool note from Mike Ahrens of Ahrens Bicycles in Scotts Calley, CA.
Mike works with Travis Kaschalk of Hit N Run Designs to produce his WiseCracker LITE bottle openers. Travis has a couple of his own products as well. The newest of which is the AXIS Direct Mount System.
For the full details and another image you know what to do.
The AXIS Direct Mount System is a direct mount stem designed for use on a single crown forks. It has a super short stack height at just 19mm to help keep the front end of your bike as low as possible. The design is lightweight too, coming in at 187g for the setup. The lower plate clamps to a standard 1 1/8th steer tube using a single M8 pinch bolt. Once in place, the Direct Mount stem clamps are held in place with four M6 stainless bolts. As Mike points out in his blog, one nice benefit of this system is that it frees up the center of your bar to mount your light, computer, GPS, etc. Also, as it has a wider clamp section, it seems like a good way to keep things stiff for those that run a wide bar.
As for the rest of the numbers, the clamp section comes in at 31.8mm (35mm may be on the horizon?). The length from the center of the steer tube to the center of the bar is 45mm. Cost is set at an introductory price of $90 for the AXIS Direct Mount bottom plate, and $70 for the 45mm Direct Mount Stem Clamp. If you wait until after January, prices go up to $120 and $100 respectively. For ordering info head over to the Ahrens blog post.
