REDSHIFT ShockStop Stem 20mm of tunable front-end suspension

After reading some of the negative reviews and comments I wasn't sure what to expect. This is definitely working for me on my new Cannondale Topstone gravel bike. My commute to work is 8 miles (one way) and the bike path and roads are not even. Especially roots pushing up the pavement is common on the bike path. It is rather painful when going 20mph and hitting them unexpectedly (e.g., in the dark). I am also going on an unpaved trail through the woods. The before and after are astonishing to the point that I am still impressed even after riding this for a couple days now. The movement of the handlebar is substantial. I didn't expect that. The quality and craftsmanship of the stem are excellent. The installation was easy (unless you are as stupid as I am and remove the original stem with the magnetic brackets falling down to the bottom of the fork inside the carbon fiber tube - duh). Overall, a much smoother experience now and a lot less impact on my hands and arms. So much more fun! One little side effect that is somewhat annoying is that my rearview mirror is shaking quite a bit due to the dampening effect :). I followed the weight table, and it seems to be just right. I wouldn't want it any softer or harder at the moment. Once the weather gets better, I'll try out a mountain bike trail with it. I am very impressed

This is a review of the Redshift ShockStop Stem and Seatpost. I purchased and installed both products, and they were complete game changers for my ride. I bought the 27.2 x 350 mm Seatpost, and the 90 mm 6 degree stem. I installed them on my Trek Domane AL5 2025. The Seatpost was a bit longer than stock, but my fit is a fairly high seat, so there were no issues. It easily met the minimum insertion requirements. The stem was +/- 6 degree, my stock stem was +/- 7 degree so it was reasonably close. I installed it as +6 and it didn't change my ride geometry enough to be an issue. For the seatpost, a quick read of the instructions made it easy to understand how to setup the preload. I set the preload slightly soft for my weight, greased the stem, and installed it on my bike. I was careful to follow torque recommendations for tightening the stem in place. Installing the seat on the seatpost was a little bit of a challenge. the Redshift seatpost is a 2 screw mount, they are accessible, but not easily. It is a balance act to tighten both to set the correct seat angle, but with some loosening of one screw and tightening of the other, it can be accomplished. I would say that installing the seatpost took about 45 minutes to get it just how I wanted. I expect changing the preload to take me about 5 minutes, and there are clear markings in cm to aid me in installing the seat to the exact height that it was previously installed at. For the stem, a quick read of the instructions identified that I was at the very bottom of my weight group for what elastomers to install. The next combination down was a significant change. The instructions stated that I could go onto Redshift's website and view a complete list of combinations. This was slightly challenging. On the page for the stem there is no information about elastomer selection. On the support page I did find links to a video and pdf for elastomer selection. I elected to view the pdf, and printed it. Sure enough there were 2 combinations between the 2 options listed on the instructions. I selected the stiffer of the two (just below the one recommended for my wight). I mounted the stem on my bike, and mounted my handlebars. Again make note of the torque recommendations, Redshift has had them engraved on the stem, so they are hard to miss. This also took about 45 minutes. To change the elastomers, I will have to unmount my handlebars and remove a retaining plate from my stem. I do not look forward to my expected 25 minutes or so just to change elastomers. I took my bike out for a nice long ride, 20 miles, 15 MPH, and asphalt. The only downside to this trail, and the reason I bought the Redshift parts, is that there are several points where tree roots have pushed up the asphalt and created some very jarring speedbumps. Without the Redshift products, these were uncomfortable at best, and sometimes made me feel like I was on the edge of controlling my handle bars. This ride, with both installed, the seat was easy to manage, and did not hit hard. With the stem installed, I could still feel every twig and root, but it was very much dampened. You do not feel disconnected from the road, but you are very much more in control. By the end of the ride, I felt less fatigue in my arms and less soreness from the seat. While researching elastomers, I read that there is a break-in period, I would say that by the end of my 20 mile ride, the stem did offer better bump dampening than it did at the start, but I do feel that the elastomer selection I made from the support pdf was spot on. Pros: They do exactly as they advertise Clear instructions (with the exception of elastomer selection) Relatively simple installation More control Less shock Well manufactured Clean looking Cons: Neither of these items are what I would call cheap 2 bolt connection for the seat is fiddly, but manageable Elastomers, the best list is online only and not as easily found as I would have thought The listing for the stem is clear that it is a 6 degree stem, but it is hard to identify if it will install as +, - or both They only come in black, not an issue for me as I was replacing black parts with black parts, but some might like other colors Summary: If you have the money, and want a smoother ride, these are quality parts to compliment and soften your ride.

Redshift makes great stuff. I bought the shortest version of this stem this time. I also have a 100mm x 35° rise on another build. The shorter version (55mm) works very well when on the hoods but as expected does not do as much when on the flats or drops due to the pivot point on the stem and the backsweep of the bars (Redshift kitchen sink) but it does eliminate some vibration. The real sweet spot is on the hoods which is where I am 80% of the time. I haven't messed with the elastomers yet. The ones that came stock feel pretty good to me for now. Looking forward to getting on some rough gravel/washboard to really feel the difference. Like most things bike, it's kind of expensive. But worth it imo.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: A must have stem for gravel, and commuter cycling. I bought this stem because I wanted my gravel cycling experience to be fun. I built up gravel bike to see what all the craze was all about. I can say that it’s rough when not having suspension or something to soften the fire road, and single track terrain. You feel everything, I have a full rigid aluminum bike with a steel fork. Well I can say that you can feel EVERYTHING. I went out for a shakedown ride at my local bike trail and it was a rough ride. Carbon would dampen some of the blows from the terrain but it would still be rough. No amount of carbon, titanium, air pressure in the tires, gel inserts with the most comfortable bar tape will compete with the experience of a bike that has suspension. I bought the redshift shock stop stem and satori harmony suspension seatpost to give me some type of help with rough dirt roads and trails. It helped a lot. The shockstop comes with directions and a graph to select which combo of elastomers you use. I’m 190lb but I went with the 180lb elastomers because the 190lb elastomers were too stiff and provide very little suspension. The elastomer combo one step down provide really good suspension feel and movement. The shockstop is a single pivot suspension stem so it will take a couple of rides to get used to the motion and the feel of the bars dipping. You get the most suspension when you ride the brake hoods and the least when you’re on the drops. After getting used to the single pivot movement. It becomes natural and now the fire roads and single track trail turbulence are much less. The impacts are greatly reduced and you can ride faster with confidence. I got through a 15 mile trail still feeling fresh. This stem would be a huge compliment to your multi thousand dollar gravel bike, cyclo cross, flat bar gravel, full rigid mountain bike, etc., etc. There are different suspension stems out there, I chose this one for the weight difference compared to the competing suspension stems, ease of installation, technical support, and yes looks. It looks like a standard bike stems. The other suspensions stems that I tried were very heavy, were easy to install, but the visual look was not my cup of tea. I wanted to ride not get looks or anything that would be an attention magnet. The redshift stem design is very minimal and would accomplish what it was built to do.

Started riding again after a 9 year hiatus. Being over 60 now neck and back pains are more prevalent. To help soften the ride of my Giant FCR1 flat bar road bike, I purchased on of the ShockStop Suspension Stems. I've only taken one 18 mile ride since installing it and I'm quite pleased with it's performance so far. It really smooths out vibration from minor road imperfections such as grooves in concrete pavement and the roughness of old macadam. And it substantially reduces the shocks from expansion joints and cracks in any pavement, no more jarring handlebars going over the mismatch between road and bridge surfaces. Now, the ride is not as supple as that of a full suspension fork; that's not what this is. And Redshift makes no such claim; it does what they say it does. I'm a fairly large rider, 6'-2" & 250#, no lightweight. The ShockStop Stem handles me without bottoming out harshly. I don't think it actually bottomed out on the first ride. It is a nicely designed and manufactured aluminum stem. My bike has 1-1/8" (28.6mm) steerer tube diameter and 31.8 handlebar diameter so no shims were needed. It's pricey for an aluminum stem but a decent value for what it does. I couldn't give it a 5 star rating with just one ride. After I put a few hundred miles of riding on it; I'll revisit my review and update it if necessary.

I am a big rider at 235 solid plus race kit I’m easily 255lbs on the bike (water, gear). I gave this a shot because I needed a longer stem and read the positive feedback from others. Purchased the 90mm length 6* degree stem and installed the 90 & 70lb rubber combo for a 70 miler gravel race. I trained hard and never used it in my training prior until the day of the race. The results surpassed my expectations as I placed 1st in my category men’s 30-39 which was competitive. Placed 7th among all males and 8th overall across all categories participating in the course (age, gender). Wow, life milestone achieved and so much more potential to improve. I was able to navigate rough terrain with much less hand/grip fatigue and most importantly a lot more bike control which produced faster and consistent speeds while others couldn’t. Now the only downside of it is the weight because it is the heaviest stem you’ll purchase unless you buy a carbon version of that is offered but I don’t think paying hundreds more is worth it over the base material version at $200+. I still rate this innovative stem 5 stars as the benefits far outweigh the weight & cost. If you need a lighter stem then do it! I’m not a pro where weight matters much as I am already a freak of a Clydesdale. I’m going to defy the smaller riders and beat them in the next race here soon. Big boy season has begun.

Like others have said, you need to take a little care when installing the stem. But the installation isn't actually difficult, you just need to make sure you don't cross thread a bolt. Otherwise it is easy. I like how the elastometers can be switched out to really dial in what you need. The product includes a guide to get you started, takes your weight and type of handlebars (drop vs straight) and makes a suggestion of which elastometers to use. My bike has drop bars, so I started with the suggestion for my weight. I found that this was still a little too stiff because I don't put as much weight on my hands as I would a more aggressive road bike. So I went down a notch and it is perfect. The range of movement is a bout a centimeter, and if I'm not actually paying attention to it I don't notice that the stem is moving when I'm riding. It isn't enough movement to feel unstable. But the stem practically eliminates the lower end of vibration and makes all the little bumps and cracks in the road completely disappear. And the big potholes and road damage, the stem removes that heavy jaring that used to hurt my wrists. I can certainly still feel these big bumps, it just removes their violence. I'm really glad I bought this stem, it has seriously smoothed out my ride and has made my bike much more comfortable. I highly recommend it to anyone who rides on anything worse than pristine roads. It is a relatively inexpensive upgrade that really pays off.

Well made, well designed and works perfectly especially on bikes with carbon fork.

The Shockstop stem has all the benefits of suspension with none of the drawbacks. I was concerned that it would be too heavy, would not absorb enough shock or would negatively impact the ride. The ShockStop is brilliant. On my flatbar road bike it works exactly as advertised. It is a very stiff bike with narrow wheels and I felt every bump. The 10mm of travel completely absorbs most bumps and saves so much pain and numbness in my hands. I’ve changed from cautiously avoiding bumps to actually aiming for them! The stem does add a small amount of weight but I absolutely did not notice it. My concern that it might effect performance or ride negatively was also unfounded. I previously had significant pain in my arms when riding but the ShockStop stem has removed it. It’s made it feel like a completely new bike and I could not be happier.

アルミフォークのロードバイクで手の痺れが有りましたが、標準設定で良くなりましたか。この手の物はハンドルを捏ねって乗るタイプの人には合わないかもしれませんが、ロングサイクリングには良いかと思います。

Ho aspettato molto prima di montare sulla mia bici gravel questo strumento che attenua le scosse sul manubrio che mi aveva consigliato un amico perchè mi sembrava eevato il costo. Devo dire che mi pento solamente di non averlo fatto prima, cambia completamente la comodità, ma anche la sicureza in quei tratti dove ci sono molte scosse a causa delle asperità del terreno. Il costo vale tutto assolutamente consigliato. Prenderò anche quello per il sellino tra non molto.

Ich hatte mit den Vorbau bereits einmal bestellt, mit 6 Grad Neigung und 90 cm Länge. Dieser lies sich aber nicht an meinen Fahrrad anbauen, da bei meinem Fahrrad alle Leitungen unterhalb des Vorbaus in den Rahmen geführt werden. Daher habe ich mir die 30 Grad Variante bestellt, in der Hoffnung, dass diese montiert werden kann. Mit Hilfe von 2 Spacern hat das auch funktioniert und ich konnte dann die Wirkung der Dämpfung testen und erleben. Nur war mir die Körperhaltung durch die 30 Grad Neigung zu aufrecht. Daher ging auch dieser Vorbau mit 30 Grad Neigung wieder zurück. Rückabwicklung durch Amazon wie immer perfekt. Weil ich aber das Fahrgefühl mit der Federung total klasse fand und ich wusste, dass der Vorbau mit Spacer auch bei mir montiert werden kann, startete ich einen weiteren Versuch. Diesmal wieder die 6 Grad Variante mit 100mm Länge. Der Vorbau war Ruck-Zuck geliefert und ließ sich auch dank Spacer problemlos montieren. Einfach genial, die groben Stöße werden gut gedämpft. Diesmal bleibt der Vorbau am Fahrrad und ich möchte ihn nicht mehr vermissen. Mein Fahrrad ist im übrigen ein Orbea Vibe H30.

Luv it. Item as per describe. Recommended.