Level Nine is the consumer facing brand from Precision Bicycle Company Limited, a major Taiwanese manufacturer that makes a huge amount of components for OEM brands (think major bike companies that have house-branded cockpits) and other component companies. The parts are all made and tested in house, and they’re trusted by quite a few big players. Now, they’re rolling out a select group of components with Level Nine branding hoping you’ll trust them to. And why should you? Because they’re one of the largest high end component manufacturers around, and they’re offering a five year warranty on both carbon and alloy parts.
Why else? Because you can help design the products you want to ride, and they’ll make them.
U.S. distributor Kenny Roberts says he was tired of hearing so many great ideas for features, tech, shapes, sizes and colors, then watching that great feedback getting lost in the shuffle of bureaucracy before ever reaching the product managers and designers. So, they’re opening their ears to riders, dealers, distributors and product managers to see what people really want, then work those ideas directly into the development program.
The Team AM stem (above) is the first product to come from their user feedback. They wanted something that wasn’t so blocky or bland. So, it’s designed to have flowing, shapely lines that look just as at home on a svelte carbon frame as on a modern hydroformed alloy frame. It’s forged 6061 aluminum then CNC’d, polished, anodized and finished off with titanium bolts. Available early Spring 2015 for $95-$99. Sizes are 40-70mm in length. This one’s a 50mm long prototype with a claimed weight of just 125g.
There’s plenty more for the rest of your bike, too…
It has a +/- 6º rise. Despite the light weight, it’s designed for all day epics and, of course, enduro! It’s shown here in the negative rise position, hence the upside down logo on the faceplate. You can orient it any way you like on your own bike.
The rest of the line has a more traditional aesthetic for now, made up of carbon fiber and alloy handlebars and seatposts, and alloy stems. The carbon bars are reasonably light, with this riser coming in at 193g at a full 785mm width.
Likewise, the carbon road bar is a respectable 230g.
The posts and stems are good for road and mountain biking. The seatposts have either carbon or alloy shafts with bonded alloy heads.
They’re available in two lengths and all three common diameters. The clamp heads have zero or a little bit of offset, and the lower plates offer plenty of support for the saddle rails.
Roberts says all products should be priced well compared to similarly well made components, which is good, but the real draw is the quality of the product and the exceptional warranty.