Industry Nine A35 Stem: Rider Review

Our "Rider Review" article series features honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for.

The controls on any given bike which include the grips, handlebars, and stem are all very important on how it can make your mountain bike feel. Sometimes the stem is a component that gets overlooked. Our friend George gives his impression of the Industry Nine A35 stem. Check it out!

Overview

I didn’t really need a new stem. How many people really need a new modern geometry stem in this day and age. All of them are pretty equally designed and perform as they should. There’s not really much to it, right?

Well, I thought the same thing and didn’t pay much attention to stems for the last year since I got my Santa Cruz Hightower. It came with a pretty good RaceFace Aeffect 50mm for my size 35mm diameter bar. I have no complaints about this stem. The only thing that I was wishing for was for there to be some rise in the stem to help me dial in my ideal riding position.

I started searching for a new stem that would keep my reach close to where I had as I really liked the feel on both ascents and running the fun way (down). Oh boy, was that a mistake! LOL, I had no idea how many different options there were out there. I started looking at a mix of brands and materials and was able to narrow the field down to a few. The recent stem review done by Worldwide Cyclery did help some but threw some options in the mix I wasn’t considering and didn't include a couple I thought would be in there.

At the end of the day, I wanted something made of aluminum that I knew was well made and offered some rise in the length I like. I have a couple of sets of Industry Nine wheels and I know they mean business when it comes to quality products made right here in the USA. I also enjoy their pops of color and am always impressed by their anodizing. The i9 A35 stem offers the same 11 colors as for their wheels. And you can mix and match the front and rear of the stem if you so choose. It’s really nice that Worldwide Cyclery offers this I9 product. It did take quite a while to get my product as I9 was backed up and then there was a shipping snafu by USPS. Worldwide was right on top of it though with their as always top-notch customer service.

Install was as easy as installing, well a stem. I9 makes it really easy with markings for suggested torque range laser-etched right on the stem and includes the hardware to install. It took some time to tweak the positioning of my bars and I’m sure I’ll need to tweak it a little more once I’m able to get some more seat time.

Is this product expensive? Yes!

Is this product high quality? Yes!

Is this product look really good installed? OH MY, YES IT DOES!

Final Thoughts

My suggestion is you pick one of these up if you are looking for a new quality made stem with customization of colors and a variety of size options available.