SEVEN DAY CYCLIST
CYCLING, BUT NOT USUALLY RACING

The Torus Titanium stem is available in six lengths ranging from 80 to 130mm. £135 isn’t to be sneezed at but reflects a component capable of withstanding the rigors of competitive riding for many, many years.

 

Torus is an alliance between Andy Jones of Clee Cycles and Justin Burls, who are both extremely fastidious, thus standards of workmanship are breathtakingly good.

 

Metals vary in their purity according to purpose and indeed, price. Torus have opted for plain gauge 3AL/2.5 titanium, which is 94.5% wonder metal alloyed with 3% and 2.5% vanadium-commonly chosen in aerospace and cycling contexts given its resistance to fatigue and corrosion.

 

These qualities mean it can be left in its raw state but readily collects marks/finger prints.-if that’s important to you. I know of people who’ve hidden frames under paint to avoid unwanted attention. This variant is also relatively easy to weld and the TIG work here is exceptionally neat.

 

Seven degree rises and oversized bulge diameters are biased towards competitive riding; hence ours served its tour of duty on my TT bike. This may alienate some looking to retrofit to a slightly loftier Audax, touring or MTB but easily addressed on new builds/forks by cutting less steerer and adding more spacers.

 

Ours sported stainless M5 bolts, since Ti versions vary in their purity and more vulnerable to galvanic corrosion-seizure to you and me. Talking of which, being as the Holdsworth sports an aluminium alloy steerer, I added a precautionary slither of Ti-prep between the stem and aluminium alloy shim. However, Justin assures me he’s unaware of any permanent union occurring between these materials.