Inexpensive, Adjustable, Durable, Retro/Vintage, Really Works!

A little heavier than regular stem

I put this on my old Bridgestone mountain bike with no front shocks. At the end of rides my hands were always numb due to all the bumps.

Once I installed this, the first thing I noticed was how much better my hands felt at the end of a ride. It's adjustable with 4 levels of what Girvin calls springs...in actuality they're what I would call elastomers. They're like bushings with different stiffness properties.

Yellow is very soft, Green is soft, Red is hard and Blue is very hard. I settled on Green.

Now for the amazing part.....it's been on my bike since 1999! It still functions the way it was designed to. If you store your bike outside, I imagine the weather might take its toll on the elastomer. My bike always goes inside after a ride.

My recommendation is if you have a mountain bike with no front suspension, find one of these and buy it. I still see them on ebay anywhere from $20-$60. That's way cheaper than any front shock. And when was the last time you heard of a front shock lasting 14 years without servicing?

It's cheap, light, smooth. Works better than el-cheapo forks.

Can't buy the bushings anymore.

This thing works much better than cheap shocks, and is much ligther too. It also complements cheap shocks well. Grab one if you can still find one. I have a set of SR DUOTRACKS that have little travel and it goes excellent with them. Going to try skateboard bushings once this one wears out. Keep your elastomer heatlhy by lubing them up with appropriate oil. Such as paintball gun lube, which won't break down the elastomer.

Responsive

Slightly heavier than a normal syem

A great product that soaks up those bumps. Great for urban riding and commuting. The shock bushing is interchangable and you may be able to use bushings that are made for skateboard trucks

Reliable. Comfortable. I have it installed on a tourer. It's the aluminium version. Remains plush vertically and passably rigid laterally. Makes a great difference to a tourer without the weight or slop of suspension forks. I choose to run a narrower front tyre since getting this gadget, so I get more comfort AND lower rolling resistance. Looks after your wrists too.

Lovely. Simple, effective, reliable design. Works well for years on end of commuting! Shame they don't make them any more!
An outmoded idea for MTB's, though.

Similar Products Used:

Sus. Forks on my X-country MTB

Inexpensive, easy to install, no maintainance required

Heavier than a normal stem, BUT much lighter than suspension forks. Some flexing when climbing using bar ends.

The best $10 I've spent on my bike. Wish I had one of these a long time ago. Of course it doesn't soak up the big bumps, however, the 3/4" or so of shock absorption provided make a big difference when you're used to a rigid set-up. After a couple of rides the elastomer seems to get a little softer.

Similar Products Used:

none.

cheap, easy to install and replace.

develops side to side play and makes ride unstable, especially with front rack and paniers.

don't waste your time; company is going (gone?) out of business and will not take the product back. It won't last and is not worth the little effort of replacing stem twice.
If you tour, be tough; live with the road bumps. If you offroad, get shocks.

Similar Products Used:

rocks shocks... much better.

Simple, Functional design

The supplied bushing is a little soft.

It really does smooth out the vibrations caused by the hard narrow tires on rough pavement. It would need to be a good deal stiffer for any formidable off roading. I'm going to try the stiffer bushings. It is alot less exspensive than buying even a cheap front shock.

Very good at smoothing out small bumps and most vibrations typical of gravel roads & cracked up city streets. Even better than many types of shocks for vibration absorbtion.

Bad for real off road riding.

My hands and wrists don't hurt when I take the old beater on gravel roads.

Similar Products Used:

I've used Quadra10, Mag21, Judy XC and now use Marzocci Bomber MXR shock.

simplicity, durability, comfort, ease of setup, doesn't change bike's geometry, ease of maintainance, better and cheaper and easier to maintain than cheapo forks, works great with rigid forks.

doesn't soak up real crushers, but it helps.

I rode my old rocky for eight or ten years with the flexstem on it so I havce to say that they really do last. The elastomer will last a few years if you treat it well. You can use Judy Butter (tm) on it or Manitou Prep M (tm) to keep it slippy. The only thing that eventually does wear is the pivot; you can only get about ten years out of it! Try that with any fork! I had to respond to the person who typed in that the Flexstem wouldn't last. It will, trust me, he just neded to give his a little more time to prove itself. I really do wish that someone would revive that old patent, there is nothing like it on the market today. Great for a commuting bike, and even a benefit off-road. Takes up small edged bumps that some forks miss.

Similar Products Used:

some cheap rip-off, can't remember who made it.