Cesar is the engineer and WC DH racer at Mondraker that helped bring us the Summum, now he's working on a new direct mount stem. Check it out! *Video added!*
Cesar went from a medium frame in 2010 to the larger frame in 2011 in order to take advantage of the added stability found in longer frames. But he needed to shorten up the cockpit to make up for the added reach. Here is what he has to say about the project:
"After trying the stem out, having a longer bike makes it way more stable - what leads in more stability, but handling of the bike stays the same, I didn’t feel anything different. Having 10mm offset the handlebar almost turns from its center, so it makes the bike more direct, same as what you feel when you go from a 120mm stem to a 80mm stem. The difference is really huge.
It was a really big surprise how good the bike felt on the track. Mainly due to a longer bike, but feeling like you were riding the older shorter bike. I moved from a medium Summum to a large frame. I was riding a 62º head angle, 800mm front center and 450mm chainstay.
The stem at the moment is just a prototype done by our studio
www.cero-design.com, it has an offset of 10mm, a weight with no bolts of 54gr and 68gr with bolts, stem and clamps. Uses 6 bolts instead of 8 bolts like normal stems and that is pretty much it.
Designed two weeks ago, prototyped last week and raced this weekend." - Cesar
From CAD to prototype in pictures: