Azonic’s heavy-duty Riot stem (featured in our round-up of short MTB stems a few months back) provoked a fair bit of comment out on the trails. We grew to like the bright blue edition, but it comes in four other anodised hues too if you’re keen on co-ordinated kit.
With a zero-degree rise, 40mm of reach and a low stack height, it provided us with an excellent gravity-orientated bar position. The unusual steerer clamp is knee friendly, the wide faceplate should reduce stress on the bar and 6mm bolts keep everything secure and reduce the chances of stripping threads or rounding out bolt heads.
It’s made of 6061-T6 alloy and the finishing and graphics are good, but given the amount of machining, we were surprised by the stem’s relatively high weight – 204g. Teamed with a wide downhill bar the Riot had no discernible flex, giving us confidence even in the roughest conditions. It’ll be serving as our stem of choice for an upcoming trip to the Alps.