September 7th, 2009 by 
Brian Mullin
Reviewed by Brian Mullin aka Gram and MTBR.com Pastajet
http://www.gramslightbikes.com/
I have been testing the new Moots Open Trail titanium mountain bike stem since late winter, and it is the best stem I have ever used, period. That is a very bold statement, but I have been through my share of stems, and they all have a certain feel and a set of characteristics, and the Open Trail stands at the forefront of stemdomhood (ok, I made the word up).
That titanium stem is unobtainium, man!
The Open Trail was Moots first foray into creating a full fledged stem for mountain biking with a 31.8 clamp for oversized handlebars, and it is the burly mountain relative of the Moots Open Road stem. The mountain bike precursor to the Open Trail was their Ti Beam stem, which has only a 25.4 clamp and a 2 bolt faceplate.
The Open Trail is made with bi-ovalized titanium tubing, a newly designed 4 bolt aluminum faceplate, a titanium dual binder and comes stock in 90,100,110,120×6, 130×10 sizes. Moots use 3/2.5 Pi-Tech CWSR (Cold Worked and Stress Relieved ) seamless titanium tubing, which is comprised of 3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium.
Titanium 101
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver white color. Titanium can be alloyed with many metals to produce strong lightweight alloys for use in multiple industries, in situations where lightweight strength, corrosion resistance and ability to withstand temperature extremes are required. It was discovered by the English amateur geologist William Gregor in 1791, then independently rediscovered and named by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in 1795, whom named it for Titans (Latin - Titanos), the first sons of the earth in Mythology. It is the only element that burns in nitrogen.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Its a $400 stem, there are other ti stems that can be had for 1/4 the price. Sure quality has a price, but I sure can’t afford it. And I thought my $200 rotor stem was spendy.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:41 am
It’s a stem. Besides being light and being strong, a stem is pretty much just a stem. If you’re interested in shock absorbion via flex, surely the fact that you’re running carbon bars is going to be far more noticeable then a stem.
Sure, Ti has some great properties. I’m running Ti for my frame, handlebars and seatpost and I notice the feel. But a stem is so short that the amount of flex afforded should be truely miniscule.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am
It is noticeable, I used different stems (ti, carbon, al), different bars (ti, carbon), etc and this stem has very distinct properties. You can easily feel the difference when you do an A/B comparison. When going to a full ti set up it will be more subtle though, but it is still there. I had a great test bed of equipment and 2 bikes for cross comparisons, and of course 8 months of time to evaluate.
September 15th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
forget Ti. Magnesium stems offer the best in vibration damping, it feels like riding on air..especially paired with a Carbon bar.
September 15th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Please recommend one for mtb’ing