The Redshift seatpost arrived in the same box as the stem, and I’m happy to report I’ll be eating a double portion of crow here today because like the stem, the seatpost genuinely impressed me. This stem is not something I would install on every bike, but working in combination with the compliance built into today’s frames, and the right tyre pressure, the freshness I felt post-ride was undeniable. This bucks the current aesthetic trends and tipped the scales at 284g.īefore I’d taken it out of the box, I had already written it off in my head, but I am pleasantly surprised to have been entirely wrong. I still need to address the elephant in the room, and that is the aesthetic and the weight. Once I had the right elastomer combo, the stem completely disappeared from my consciousness on the bike - until I got home after a long gravel ride and my hands and wrists were still fresh. The ShockStop stem does allow this to a point, and it’s mostly on rough gravel and singletrack, with the front wheel being able to move up 20mm without your hands moving, there are noticeable improvements in purchase I was confident to dive into corners with a bit more speed.Įven with the give in the vertical plane, there is precisely zero lateral flex, nor does it bounce when you’re riding out of the saddle - that is unless you’re trying to make it flex. Looking to our knobby tyre, flat bar suspension loving cousins for a moment suspension is designed to help the wheels move out of the way of bumps and rebound at the right speed, so the tyre tracks the ground like velcro improving traction and comfort. With the denser elastomers, the stem was more rigid, and I could only perceive it was moving when blasting through a pothole, or pushing down on it to show someone how it worked. It did also demonstrate, like with a suspension fork, that correct setup can make all the difference. With the elastomers for my weight, I found that there was noticeable brake dive, which wasn’t much of an issue on the road, but on dirt was clench inducing when the terrain got steep. But my short time with the overly comfort focused setup proved how well the stem dulls square edges and gobbles up high-frequency buzz. Initially, I installed the elastomers that are recommended for my weight, and I found the stem to be a little too plush, opting to step up a weight class. ![]() The stem comes with two elastomers pre-installed, and even a remarkably hamfisted mechanic like me can chop and change them with no issues. The stem offers 20mm of travel on a drop-bar bike or 10mm on a flat bar, and it’s available in 90-120mm lengths with a +/- 6-degree drop or a 100mm +/- 30-degree. The 1 1/8in steerer clamp is attached to the forged aluminium stem which floats on two cartridge bearings and two elastomers inside which are customisable according to your weight - five come in the box allowing for 15 total combinations. ![]() The RedShift ShockStop Stem came to be as a Kickstarter back in 2015 and is what amounts to a pivoting stem. I can already hear some of the audible eye rolls coming from the drop bar purists, but hear me out. In this case, I will happily eat crow technology has come a long way since the days of Fresh Prince and Walker Texas Ranger, and Redshift’s Suspension components work as advertised and do it well. I’ll admit when the Redshift Suspension ShockStop Seatpost and Stem came across my desk for review it brought back memories of my 9 year-old self and underwhelming suspension components of the 90s. It was blue, it had a front shock, some pretty wiz-bang bar ends and a suspension seatpost. When I set eyes upon the Redshift ShockStop Seatpost and Stem it brought back memories of the first 26in mountain bike I ever owned.
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