Although ‘Dennis’ might not sound a very German name, he’s the founder and brains behind one of the best-kept secrets in mountain bike componentry: Syntace.
The company makes bars, stems and seatposts; nothing new there, except that Dennis’s other passion is testing and he borders on the pathological when ensuring that his components are the safest and most technically advanced around.
Syntace products are renowned for being among the lightest and the most durable in their given sectors. The F109 is an oversized version of the F99 stem with a 31.8mm handlebar clamp diameter; Dennis is a strong believer in the old 25.4mm ‘standard’ and resisted making oversize components for a long time.
The F109 carries an unheard of 10-year warranty against breakage, so it’s strong. It’s also light (111g for the 90mm version), proving that both qualities can be achieved with acceptable stiffness levels.
Most of this astoundingly light weight is down to using light materials and 3D modelling, and some is down to the standard-fit titanium bolts. We particularly love the 200° bar clamp, which provides a perfectly round clamp and genuine long-term safety for carbon bars.