Deity can fully outfit your mountain bike's cockpit, with a solid range of bars, stems and lock-on grips in a huge range of colours to match your bike. Here we test the brand's premium spec Copperhead stem with a 35mm bar clamp.
Deity Copperhead stem review
Like a lot of the best mountain bike stems, the Deity Copperhead is CNC machined from a solid block of 6061-T6 series aluminium, and is offered in 35mm and 50mm lengths and a kaleidoscope of colours. As one of the more expensive contenders in our stem test it goes up against benchmark designs and group test winners such as the Race Face Turbine R 35 and the great value E*Thirteen Base 35.
The company talks about it being light enough for all-mountain but strong enough for gravity riding an while I think most modern stems can be used for any discipline.
The Deity Copperhead’s slightly lower grade alloy means it’s not as lightweight as the stems made from 7075, but with stems this short we couldn’t really feel a lot of difference in rigidity. The Copperhead is one of the widest across the front clamp area, but also pretty smooth and tidy at the back, potentially saving your knees in the event of a slip.
Mind the gap? We kinda did, the space between faceplate and stem is ugly. Yet the stem is nicely finished, stiff and well made
Several of the stems in this test use a no-gap faceplate design, where one-half of the clamp closes fully before you lock down the lower two bolts. It’s easier to set up, reduces uneven clamping and looks clean, but unfortunately, Deity hasn’t embraced this technology. Normally we wouldn’t mention this, since there are plenty of stems on the market with a no-gap design, but the difference here is that the Copperhead leaves quite an ugly gap between the body of the stem and the faceplate.
The Copperhead does have a low stack height, which is great if you’re trying to drop your front end on a long travel trail bike. All the edges are nicely chamfered, so it doesn’t scrape the handlebar during fitting, and it’s nice to see the same bolt size used throughout.
The steering response is on par with most other stems on test, and with its deep gloss finish the Copperhead does look fantastic on the bike. It doesn’t have a no-gap bar clamp, but it’s still a solid stem.
Verdict
The higher weight and the fact that it’s only available in two lengths count the Deity Copperhead, but you get a ton of colour options and a low stack height that may prove useful on some bike set ups. You’re also covered by the company’s excellent lifetime crash replacement policy.
Details
Weight:147g (35mm length)
Clamp size:35mm
Stack height:35mm
Lengths:35 and 50mm
Colours:Black, red, purple, green, blue, orange, platinum and bronze