The Turbine is Race Face’s top-of-the-range stem and it looks every inch a flagship. Machined from 7075 aluminium there’s more than a hint of the Thomson about the Turbine. It’s certainly every bit as sleek.
Twin opposing bolts at the back grip the steerer evenly, while the sides of the steerer clamp are drilled out to save weight. You shouldn't have any worries about steerer length due to the low 40mm stack height.
Moving forward, the extension is an efficient round cross-section with a variable wall thickness, putting material where it’s most needed. Up front is the bar clamp, with a windowed and relieved faceplate interlocking with the stem body when tightened. This takes some of the loads away from the bolts themselves. It’s flippable, too.
The most obvious bonus of the Turbine is its low weight – 124g for our 70mm test sample. You’d expect a stem that light to be a little flexy, but not a bit of it. A relatively wide bar clamp and intelligent use of material make the Turbine a confident ally on pretty much everything short of riding off buildings.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
