I saw this product on Kickstarter a few months ago so when road.cc reviewed it recently, I knew my wallet was in for an imminent kicking. And here it is! It's basically a stem suspended at the steerer end on two cartridge bearings with the centre of the stem housing a pair of elastomers trapped inside with a wedge assembly. The net result is 10-20 mm of shock and buzz reducing travel with no loss of stiffness and a weight penalty of only around 100 grams over a normal stem. I removed the Cinelli Vai stem I had on Awesom-O and prepared to fit the new stem. The elastomers are fitted at the factory so the stem points upwards in the +6° position so this is how I decided to fit it figuring the stem would lower to a more conventional position when it activated and moved downwards. The bike looked a bit odd this way and felt too upright so I decided to swap it to the -6° position.
To do this, you remove the face plate, undo a long bolt that runs through the elastomer wedge and simply remove the elastomers and wedge assembly and refit it the other way up. The manual was very specific about not mis-threading the wedge retaining bolt and advises keeping the bolt head as low as you can and pushing down on the stem to align it optimally. I had no issues with this and the bolt screwed back in with no issues. I tightened this bolt to the recommended 1.5 ft/lbs and reassembled the bike. The faceplate and steerer clamp bolts were all done up to the recommended 5 ft/lbs and the job was a good'un. I haven't ridden it properly yet but I did do a few ups and downs of my rear drive way and I'm certainly intrigued. I'm not sure how it will reduce road buzz but it really removes the jarring you get when you go through a small dip and the bars really punch up into your wrists. I'll take it for a full ride over the weekend and finish this review.
Update and final opinion: We've had some fairly severe winds over the last few days but it's calmed down a bit so I managed to get out last night and test the stem with the 60/70 elastomer combination recommended by Redshift. I was initially going to do the usual but I actually ended up doing the most varied ride I've done for ages. It was a mixture of cycling through woods in the dark, the Old Coach Road which is horrendous, peeling chip seal, the undulations of the farm track and the road to Holt Green which is pretty rough in places. Partly because it was dark and partly because it was so windy, I didn't really notice the stem. I just realised occasionally that while I could feel the imperfections of the road slamming up through the saddle, my hands and wrists were taking virtually no abuse at all. I think this is the beauty of this stem, it does it's job unobtrusively until you get home after a hard ride and realise your hands and wrists don't feel like you've been out on a ride at all. I think if you have any kind of hand, wrist or shoulder ailment, you'd be absolutely mad not to fit one of these as soon as you can. It did feel a little soft just occasionally when hitting larger obstructions so I'd love to try it with 70/70 elastomers but for now? Top product.
The RRP for this product in the UK is £149.99 but I got mine from KIT RADAR who are selling them for £139.99.
3rd October: I forgot to write this ride up at the time but I remember it was fairly windy but dry and not too cold so the Strael got another autumn outing. To avoid the traffic, I didn't set out until half six so I got the first proper night ride of the year so I was running the Exposure Diablo at the front. I did have a rather unusual bird encounter on the second 'up', just as it was getting dark. I was riding along and a silent bird with a white underside came over the hedge to my right, swooped down in front of me and then flew back over the hedge and then did the same thing again. I haven't seen any on the ride before but I guess it was a barn owl. It was a fun ride and I stopped at the kebab shop on the way home for a doner but I haven't had one for ages, honest! Anyhow, 25.1 miles to start October off.
5th October: I took the day off work today so I could get out for a good afternoon ride. I particularly wanted to get out today because the BBC website said there was an 80% chance of rain and I wanted to test out some new brake blocks on Awesom-O. I did a quick lap of the fishing lake at Siding Lane and then did two ups and downs and the road to Holt Green. By the time I got to Holt Green I was dying for a pee so I parked Awesom-O against a tree and walked into the small plantation of huge pine trees I pass next to the weird old house. There were some random tress but the huge pines were definitely planted in a grid pattern, I guess the wood was planted in the 60's or 70's with the promise of being the farmer's retirement pot when the trees were harvested and turned into timber. Needless to say, it didn't rain so the brake block review will have to wait for another day. Anyhow, an enjoyable enough ride and 25.2 miles.
10th October: I was rather late getting out after work this evening because I couldn't find my Wahoo computer. I looked everywhere but it had disappeared so I eventually set off on Awesom-O without it figuring I know the mileage of most of my routes anyway. I ended up doing two ups and downs of the path and the road to Holt Green. I was going to have another look at the contents of the building society boxes in the outhouse but the lights were on in one room of the house which is odd because no one lives there! The weather was another oddity, I set off with my Castelli Alpha over the Stolen Goat jersey but I took the jacket off after the first 'up' because it was so warm, definitely the only time I can remember doing a night ride in summer gear! Anyhow, it was 24.5 miles and I found the Wahoo the next day, it was on my desk under a packet of SwissStop brake pads...
14th October: The Wahoo back on the bike, I decided to take Awesom-O out this afternoon because it's rained a lot recently and I still need to test the new brake blocks. It didn't actually rain but there were a few puddles about so at least the new blocks got a start bedding in with the grit on the rims. I started by doing a lap around the fishing pond and then intended to do the usual three ups and down as of the farm track. As it turned out, the horsists were out so I did one up and down of the track, two laps of the time triallers block and finished with another up and down of the track. On the 'down', I encountered the horsists again so I took the long way home going up to Bickerstaffe along Hall Lane. There were a couple of things to note about this ride; firstly, it was the first ride of the year in my Castelli longs. My bum was super comfortable which does suggest that my Lusso shorts, that have started giving me a numb bum, are both pooched. Secondly, I kept encountering huge cloud of invisible midges that you only knew were there when you heard them pattering over the front of your jacket and going in your mouth - weird! Anyhow, It was less windy than it has been for absolutely ages so quite a fun ride overall and another 26.9 miles.
17th October: I took the day off work today because it's been fairly crummy recently and today was supposed to be OK, the leaves are finally beginning to turn on the trees so I figured it would be rather a nice day for a ride. Because there's been a bit of rain recently, I decided to take Awesom-O figuring it would be wet. As it turned out, it was actually pretty pleasant. Not too many puddles around and not too windy.
Before I left, I'd fitted Awesom-O with latex tubes so he was flying along as I did two ups and downs of the path. By that point however, I was dying for a wee and my usual handy spot was no good because there were a lot of cars and dog walkers on the track. I decided to head for the weird house at the end of the road to Holt Green where I had a pee in the conifer foundation. Feeling good again, I headed for home and a ride total of 27.6 miles. Update: I noticed as I was filling in my spreadsheet that this ride took my overall total past the 13,000 mile mark AND the annual total over 2,000 miles!
20th October: With the new Shockstop stem fitted to Awesom-O, I was dying to get out for a ride today. It was overcast but very bright with hardly any wind so it promised to be a fairly decent ride (I ended up taking my jacket off after the first up and just riding in long bibs and my stolen goat top). I was going to do three ups and downs of the farm path but as I was on the first 'down', three girls on horses pulled out of the road that goes to the horse farm. I couldn't be arsed dealing with horsists so I decided to do the local 27 instead as it has some truly terrible roads that would really give the new stem a good workout. I haven't done it for ages and I remembered it came up short of 27 because I don't come in via the Ormskirk road any more so I did a reverse loop of the time triallist loop to add a bit of distance and then headed off down Sineacre Lane towards Kirkby.
I don't know why but the ride felt great and I was holding a good speed, I think the new stem helped. I'm sure the elastomers I fitted were too hard (they recommend 60/70 for my weight but I tried 60/80) but the stem was still brilliant and I'm sure you go faster with it. It isn't really noticeable in use until you realise that nothing on the road gets transmitted into your wrists and arms, I got home and my hands and arms didn't feel like I'd just been out on a ride at all. I'll change the elastomers before I next head out but I'm an absolute convert and would recommend the Shockstop to anyone! 27.6 miles at an average speed of 16.5 mph.
24th October: We've had a lot of very windy weather recently but I was determined to test the new stem with the softer 60/70 elastomers in it so I took Awesom-O out for spin after work. There's an area of cold weather moving in and it felt a bit chilly so it was the first evening of the year wearing my Rapha underlayer under my Castelli jacket and my B'twin full finger gloves. Anyhow, I was going to do the usual but the idiot guard dogs were in the garden and I ended up doing a bit of an odd ride. I ended up doing one up and down of the lane, the road to Holt Green, the road to the horse farm, one lap of the time trialler's block and then a lap of the fishing pond through the woods followed by a kebab on the way home. It was windy but quite a fun ride and the new stem continues to impress! 24.0 more miles.
28th October: A large area of cold air has moved in from the north so today was the first fairly cold day of the year, around 9 °C according to the BBC weather website. Determined to get out and face it, I wore my longs, my merino jersey with the Castelli jacket and my new B'twin full gloves and took Awesom-O out to do the usual. It turned out to a gorgeous day, mainly blue sky and very sunny with the usual wind.
I did three ups and downs, as usual, but got there and back via Dairy Farm road and the Old Coach Road to test the new stem out. The stem was great, my hands and wrists don't feel like I've just done a ride, but I'm going to try and track down another 70 elastomer because it felt slightly soft at times. Anyway, a very enjoyable ride overall and 25.7 miles. On the down side, my toes were freezing when I got in so I guess it's overshoes season again.
31st October: I'd booked today off to visit my dad in hospital but he texted last night to say he was coming home soon anyhow and not to bother visiting so I got a bonus bike ride in today, double good news! It was overcast but with a lot of blue sky and not particularly windy so I took Awesom-O out to do the usual. I don't know why but I decided to carry on up Intake Lane and then turn left down Liverpool Road which eventually takes you to the end of the farm path, a road I used to cycle a lot when I first got Awesom-O. I was going to a couple of ups and downs at this point but realised that I was losing the light after one, I'd forgotten about the clocks going back - doh! Anyhow, as I headed home, I did a lap of the fishing pond at Siding Lane and then got home via the road around the village for a total of 22.7 miles and a not too shabby October total of 229.3 miles.
