Weight 167g / 50, 70, 90, 110mm lengths / Black only / 8-degree rise / 31.8mm clamp size
Contact: www.silverfish-uk.com

Most stems these days are forged, so it’s somewhat surprising that Race Face’s new Atlas AM stem is machined. But according to Race Face there are several reasons for this: “We can control the tolerances more accurately compared to forging, we wanted to produce this stem in our Canadian facility, and we wanted a specific aesthetic with sweeping blended chamfer cuts and sharp, crisp lines.”
Fair enough, and as all-mountain stems don’t need to be that light the heavier CNC’d construction is not a problem. Plus it’s relatively easy to change the shape without having to invest in new tooling.
The Atlas is actually made from 6061-T6 series aluminium and gets a shot-peened finish, which pre-stresses the material, improving the fatigue life. It also has the familiar interlocking faceplate that provides a continuous clamping zone around the handlebar, reducing compression loading. If you do over-torque the bolts there’s also a bottom-out function built in.
On the scales the Atlas is a good weight; it’s also reasonably stiff and well priced. We also like the shape, especially in the shorter lengths, but we’d like to see a better finish, like Race Face’s old Deus XC stem. A couple of in-between shorter lengths wouldn’t go amiss either.

MBR RATING: 9/10