Aerozine XS7 Superlight stem

Aerozine Titanium have a background in aerospace engineering which means they know a thing or to about making things light, a forty quid stem weighing just 104g (110mm) for instance.

The XS7's stem body and faceplates are forged from 7050 aluminium alloy with a bit of CNC machining at the steerer clamp to remove weight. It is designed for oversize 31.8mm bars and a 1 1/8in steerer as you'd expect these days and comes in 10mm length increments form a diddy 50mm to 130mm which I'm guessing will cover pretty much everybody on the planet except for a handful of pro sprinters.

Rather than go for a single faceplate the XS7 uses two strips to clamp your handlebar. It makes things a lot easier to set up and adjust and thanks to the slight flaring in profile at the centre section you're aren't loosing much in the way of clamping surface. There certainly aren't any issues with it holding the bar tightly.

The hardware is all titanium which sheds a little bit of weight and on the aesthetics side of things rusty bolts won't be an issue through the winter months.

Once clamped to the bike it feels stiff without being harsh and does everything a stem should. With the low weight I was expecting to feel a little bit of flex when climbing or sprinting but I certainly couldn't detect anything untoward.

The XS7 has a +/- 6° angle which is a little on the shallow side if you prefer a deep saddle-to-bar drop but it works well if all day comfort is your thing. The logos are reversible to so it won't look out of place whichever way up you run it.

Finish wise there are a couple of options if the standard black is a bit too sedate for you. Gloss white or red are the shouty options both of which come with black faceplates rather than the polished alloy.

Overall the XS7 is a cool looking bit of kit especially when paired with the matching XB1.2 handlebar. The early reservations I had about the light weight weren't borne out by any noticeable flex but there is just enough there to absorb the road buzz as its pretty comfortable for an alloy stem. It's cracking value for money as well.

Verdict

Plenty of stiffness and good secure clamps, cheap for its weight and titanium bling too.