Fresh Gear: Pro Tharsis Carbon Stem and Handlebars

Shimano Pro Tharsis carbon Handlebar and Stem.

I’m just going to say it. The Pro Tharsis stem is the coolest carbon fiber stem I’ve seen. With a listed weight of 130 grams, it’s light, but is still rated as trail worthy and suitable for all mountain and regular trail riding. I recently built up my first lightweight XC/trail bike in years, and while I’ve never been a gram counter, it is a great match to what I’m trying to put together in my newest build.

The 70mm version we’re rocking has a solid look to it that is confidence inspiring, even with its titanium bolts and the listed torque specs that warn against ham-fisted home mechanics. I’ll admit the diminutive ti bolts and torque-wrench specs made me a bit nervous when installing it, as I’m not accustomed to running light weight carbon bits on my personal bikes, but this ain’t no flexy weight-weenie stem. (The ti bolts are sized to fit 4mm allen keys, which is fairly standard for performance mountain components these days.) The sideways bulge viewed from the top makes it look shorter than it actually is, and I had to throw a tape measure on it to verify it was indeed 70mm of extension. (as a rider coming from the gravity side of things I love the aesthetic of short stems so this counts as a plus for me) The stem includes an integrated gap cap and spacer and is designed to sit at the top of your steerer, so I took extra care when it came to cutting down my steerer to accomodate it. Fortunately the reversible design meant I could run a few more spacers initially and run the stem in the lower position until I can commit to hacking off additional length. The negative rise on the stem looks sweet too, and reminds me of the stems I run on my BMX bikes.

Pro Components Tharsis Carbon stem and bars

It isn’t clear if the use of the integrated cap and spacer are mandatory for use with the stem, but fortunately they look pretty sweet too. Another bonus to the smooth carbon lines are there aren’t any sharp edges that could potentially put a dent in your knee cap. Time will tell whether it passes the durability test, but after a few rides on it it feels solid and flex free, and that’s all that matters to me. The only clear downside to this stem? The price. Street pricing looks to be in the $220 range.

Strong & lightweight carbon trail stem
Reversible stem design (+6Â°/-6Â°) with integrated gap cap and spacer
Special frontclamp design preventing bolt- and handlebar-stress
Diagonal steerer clamp construction with titanium bolts
Available Extensions: 70-100mm (70mm tested)
Diameter handlebar clamp: 31.8mm
Color: UD Carbon

check it out: Pro Components Tharsis Carbon Stem

Pro Components Tharsis Stem and bars

The Tharsis carbon handlebars are positioned as the trail bar offering from Pro Components. Coming in just over 28″ inches wide, (they are listed at 710mm, but mine measured out to be just a bit more) they are a good width for most all mountain riders and fit the current offerings on the market in the all mountain trail bike category. They have a nice sweep and feel, with nice looking graphics that pair with the carbon stem.

However, coming from riding wider 29.5″ bars on my all mountain and gravity steed, I’m more than a little disappointed they aren’t offered in a 29″ or 30″ version to boot. While 28″ is plenty wide for most, those of us that love the stability, control and outright shredability of a wider bar will need to run a downhill bar until the rest of the industry and manufacturers (not to mention general public) catch on that wider bars straight-up rule. That said, these bars have a great feel to them, and are plenty stiff with the steering input. With a listed weight of 195 grams, they are more than respectably light while feeling confidence inspiring for performance trail riding.