off-road.cc

The Horizon Stem from Nukeproof is a blingy, heavily-machined alloy number that’s light, thoughtfully designed and fits either way up for a small rise or drop in bar height. It's a little expensive for what it is, but it's a tough stem with a lot of options, and ideal for completing your trail, enduro or downhill rig.

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Stems are pretty simple things, but the Horizon has still been designed with care. For instance, the steerer clamp gap is offset to leave a thicker chunk of metal on the threaded side, which should make stripping the alloy threads harder. Meanwhile the faceplate is designed to work with no gap at the top, making it easier to install and tighten correctly than a completely floating one.

While the faceplate has a large window to help with bar alignment, there are no alignment marks to reference. So there’s still a touch of guesswork involved unless you reach for a ruler.

The stack height is 35mm, which is a little shorter to what I usually run so an extra spacer was called for. Its slinky nature is good news for those looking to tame tall front ends, as is the ability to flip the whole thing for a 5mm drop instead of rise.

I found the stem plenty sturdy enough. Its faceplate is wide enough to minimize flex at the end of the bars, and I like how it’s not too bulky.

While the Nukeproof Horizon is on the pricey side at £60, it's stiff, strong and certainly looks the part. It also comes in lengths from 35mm to 60mm, in both 31.8 and 35mm clamp sizes, and in at least four colours.

• nukeproof.com

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