[Closed] Suspension stems are back!

Always thought the Flexstem was OK for what it did bitd.

I'm in like Flynn

I thought I was the only one that liked mine! The road.cc article mentioned that the old flexstem was voted 5th worst invention in mtb history (DIRT mag).

I remember it once saving me from what would have been 2 very sore wrists at least, if not worse.

I never thought I'd see anything like them return though. Although I have toyed with putting my one back on my old retro SS for a laugh.

erm, is it just me or have they got totally the wrong idea..

"The uneven surfaces of off-road biking encourage riders to remove their suspension systems to cut down on weight, leading to more control but also greater discomfort"

Can I be the first to say

How much!?

"The uneven surfaces of off-road biking encourage riders to remove their suspension systems to cut down on weight, leading to more control but also greater discomfort"

Now I know why I was so shit at DH races!

How much!?

This. FTFAGOS.

is their website trying to suggest Contador has been using one?

Too long for MTBers and too short for roadies, expensive and most likely not very good. Must be for fat bikers.

looks like a hole punch.
shut up and take my money!

Flexstem was genius. Was kind of ok- about as effective as thick grips- until the elastomer wore, which happened pretty much immediately. And after that, meant your bars were attached to the bike by a rattly loose hinge.

OTOH I cut mine up and used the quill part as a video camera mount for the motorbike, which it was really good at, so it wasn't a total failure.

Have to say if the idea was implemented well at a decent price then it might be a success - more for the road/commuter bike market though.

Is the huge advert above the reply box new?

Does it go for premier members?

al no advert box above the reply box for me with a P.

The rigid/minimalist crowd might love something like that.
I am already a fan of USE posts on hardtails

[i]I saw a kid riding a Cannondale Headshok at an XC race the other week.
It wasn't slowing him down ,and that's pretty basic.[/i]

I also liked my Flexstem. When I was using it I had 1.5 tyres and bars as stiff as scaffold poles. It made long rides bearable where before I'd end up with thumbs so sore i'd be operating the friction shifters with my hand.

is their website trying to suggest Contador has been using one?

Too long for MTBers

In the UK maybe, not in many other parts especially for XC.

Flex stems were at that peak before we invented decent suspension forks

Now we have decent forks

All though I do wonder if we could do with a few lighter, less travel, less clearance,suspension forks for the lane exploring thing

No weight listed.............Hmmmmm?

I loved my Flex stem , i thought i was the mutz do dahs. It was a 1987 rockhopper in Yellow , 21" frame (14 years old) i chromed the front forks and a flex stem when they came out 1989) ? It did make a difference when you got used to it .

"mountain cycling"?

I'm loving the left hand drive bike on the website.

Suspension designers spend their time fretting about unsprung weight. This makes it as high as it could possibly be. Brilliant.

No weight listed.............Hmmmmm?

Constructed from high grade carbon steel and zinc,

Shudders.

They should have patented a new metal called 'Flexinium' ....maybe that would have helped with the marketing

Once again, marketers sell stuff to people that is simply pointless!

Have a quick think about the physics behind shock or vibration isolation, and particularly about what sort of ride frequencies the system is required to absorb.

Now, here's a practical experiment. Take you suspended mountain bike and lock the suspension out, what happens? Now unlock it, what happens now, and how much do the suspension components have to "move" to absorb the sort of deflections that are not absorbed by the tyres?

So, on a road bike, with tiny section tyres at >100psi, then perhaps there is some energy in the frequency spectrum that a flex stem can "absorb" but on a mountain bike, with large, low pressure tyres?

but on a mountain bike, with large, low pressure tyres

Could be wrong but I don't think it's aimed at you.

Back in 1991 when I was earning £40 a week, a set of Rockshox RS1s cost about £300

I think the the Flexstem cost me about £60

Neither worked very well - but the flexstem was affordable and did take the sting out of the trail and I loved it - especially the colour! 🙂

[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8662/15319051834_3164f89be8.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8662/15319051834_3164f89be8.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/pkG9pm ]flexstem[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr

Back in 1991 when I was earning £40 a week, a set of Rockshox RS1s cost about £300

I think the the Flexstem cost me about £60

whereas the Softride stem cost as much as a set of forks, weighed about as much, and was still a load of pony.

We had a flexstem, just felt like riding a broken bike.

I've still got the 1989 MBUK where they test the flexstem against the first pair of RS1's in the country that the authors mate had imported.

From memory it was the first MBUK I ever bought.

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Girvin-Flexstem-Pro-Flex-Vintage-Retro-NOS-/381225536543?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item58c2d00c1f&clk_rvr_id=816451438709&rmvSB=true ]Blimey[/url] 😀

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I was in a shop the other day that had three (what I think were) original, boxed Girvin flexistems. I took a picture but can't post off my phone.

Once again, marketers sell stuff to people that is simply pointless!

Flex bars and rubber mounted stems have seen some success in motocross, so I'm not sure the idea isn't entirely devoid of merit.

There is certainly feedback that I cut out by going from lock ons back to wired on grips which have more rubber for the same diameter.

I won't be happy until that suspension hub makes a comeback.

My flexstem (with Malverns 1993 Scrutineering sticker, or at least it's remains) is fitted to my Sister's Holdsworth Electra that is residing in my Gran's garage gathering dust btw. 8)

Think my flexstem cost about 75 pound always used the red elastomer but we used to drill tiny holes in the elastomer to give more travel !!!!! Thought it was great at the time about 1988_ish

Still have my Flexistem and looking forwards to building a bike with it!

Who made the other flex stem jobbie that used a parallelogram arrangement?
Always made more sense to me.

I can sort of see the appeal of a modern version possibly for touring or bike packing where you might want the load carrying capacity and simplicity of rigid forks but some means of soaking up bumps when you clatter your 50lbs of unwieldy bike and luggage throughvarious pot holes...

But on road bikes or MTBs as their video shows? Nah...