If you long for that classic bullmoose handlebar aesthetic but need modern geometry, Farr components have the solutions.

The company has now launched a shorter version of its Headspace stem, targeted specifically at trail and enduro mountain bikers. It combines the look of those very early mountain bike stems with thoroughly modern construction.

With the long, slack and low geometry trend, short stems have come into their own. Very riders of average height, are venturing beyond 50mm of stem length and recognising this, Farr has reforged its Headspace into a more compact size.

When the 70mm Headspace launched last year, it showed that a wide clamp stem, without any faceplate, would be shaped into something resembling the bullmoose design.

Read more: these are the best mountain bike stems 

Works with both handlebar bore sizes

Farr’s industrial designers have now restructured the Headspace into a 50mm length, with a zero rise profile and 142g claimed mass rating

As handlebar widths have grown there has also been a corresponding increase in bore size. With most trail and enduro riders now gripping handlebars are at a minimum 760mm, but mostly much wider, the bore size has swelled from 31.8- to 35mm.

Farr’s new Headspace 50mm stem is designed to accommodate the latest 35mm bore handlebars, although the company also supplies a shim kit, if you wish to pair it with a narrower cockpit component.

Setting-up a stiffer bar-and-stem combination

Beyond its combination of minimalism and retro design sensibility, are there sound mechanical benefits to this Farr Headspace design?

The very wide 85mm clamping measurement does spread load across a wider handlebar surface, which should translate into a much stiffer cockpit when descending technical terrain.

Although not always a priority for trail and enduro riders, the Headspace design also allows for wonderfully convenient mounting of your racing number and light.

The Farr Headspace 50mm stem should start shipping from March and is priced at $105.