Short stems are in, and for very good reason. You gain much better attacking positioning over your bike, there’s greater responsiveness in steering and you can easily put weight over the front wheel. Many manufacturers are bringing out stems that are shorter than ever, but if you don’t want to spend an absolute fortune then 40mm seems to be the cut off point between affordable and extortionate.
I had previously been running a Deity Components Fantom Stem that was 50mm long and it served me well for two years, but I wanted to go shorter. I had a scout around trying to see what I could find for the best money and that brought me to the Truvativ Hussefelt Stem which is only £25! For that money I thought it was definitely worth a shot, so I took the plunge, here’s how I found it:
Truvativ Hussefelt Stem Review
First things first, I noticed this was significantly shorter than my 50mm stem – 10mm to be precise, but at this size it looks and feels a lot bigger! Funnily enough I was expecting it to be quite heavy, after all there has to be some negative to it with such a low price tag but it’s hardly got a weight on it.
I threw this on my bike, combined with my Nukeproof Warhead 800 bars and went off for a test ride. Five months later, here I am writing a review of a component that has been through its paces for nearly half a year.
First impressions were good, it’s burly, stiff and every bolt is a 5mm allen key so fitting and adjusting is a very simple task. The black and white color scheme are great (there’s also a white option) and the finish isn’t bad although it is very simple.
Everyday Duties
Riding in South Wales this stem has been through its paces, taking in long xc routes, hard climbs, fast flowy single track but most importantly, lots and lots of downhill riding! Needless to say, this stem is designed to take on hard duty and it does it with ease. The 40mm length means that you feel as though your weight is nicely placed over the front tire and this has definitely saved me from a couple of sketchy OTB moments.
Five months in and my bars have never slipped, although I did have one serious crash with ended up turning the bars completely sideways. Surprisingly though, I couldn’t move it back by force and had to undo the bolts in order to put in back in position – not sure if that shows how good the stem is or how hard I crashed to be honest.
Overall
For the price you seriously can’t fault the Truvativ Hussefelt Stem. The looks aren’t the sleekest out there but it does the job well and for under £25 you really can’t ask for much more than that, can you?
