Conference noted::bicycle

    It takes out some of the shock, but I would hardly call it a
    suspension.  There's very little damping, and imperceptible "travel". 
    I still like mine.  It's fun to torque on the bars and lighten up 
    the front wheel, without taking it off the ground.

    
    	The Girvin stem takes up the high frequency shocks and
    helps to loft the front wheel somehow. The best deal looks
    like Airborne MTB in Montana. $68.
    
    	Roger

    Another thing to consider is what evil things a flex stem WON'T do to
    you that front forks would.  There's no "brake dive" with a flex stem,
    and the head angle and front wheel trail won't vary as you zoom over
    stutter bumps.  I could handle these things when I was on a 40hp
    motocrosser at 40mph, but on a bicycle, I think it would be highly
    unpleasent.
    
    MATT

    Check out the review in this month's Mountain Bike Action.
    
    Synapsis: They make for a comfortable ride, but do not
    provide the same functionality as a true suspension piece
    (i.e. rear swing arm, front spring fork, etc, etc)
    
    Never used them myself, so I can't add anything else.
    
    Ed

	I've been using a flexstem for about 2 years on my muddy fox aluminium.
	It takes most of that incessant chatter you get on your wrists and hands
	while riding fast off road. The only problem I had was using the softer 
	bushes (you get 3-4 of different density with the kit) made the steering 
	a bit interesting. Another problem is if you don't tighted the screw 
	down enough and you use horns or areo bars you notice that the handle 
	bars move up and down a lot which is a pain in the a** when your
	climbing out of the saddle. Other than the extra weight I wouldn't 
	change it.

	Kev (Who doesn't get trashed wrists except when he falls off :-))

    FWIW: I was in Landry's (rt 9 in Westboro MA) tonight. They had the 
    flexstems on sale for $53. The special is over this Wednesday.
    
    
    
    

    I'm thinking of getting a flex stem for my MTB, as riding off road has
    really aggravated the problems I've been having w/my wrists and hands.
    Are there different brands of flex stems?  I've only noticed one in
    Nashbar.  Anyone know of a good sale?  I cringe at spending yet another
    100 bucks.  But hey, maybe I could claim I need it for medical reasons
    and get my insurance to pay! %^)

    Sue

A question for those of you who have, or have ridden, flex-stems... How effective would 
they be on a road bike?  I'm riding a Quintana Roo with 26" wheels and aero-bars, and (I 
think) the small wheels make for a rather harsh ride on rough roads.  Running high 
pressure (120lbs) clinchers probably doesn't help, either.  I'm looking to soften the 
ride (especially for long rides, centuries and up) without compromising performance.

Kevin

ps. Don't recommend sewups... don't want to hear it :^)

    
    CYCLE_RACING has an interesting insight on Paris-Roubaix,
    where GL used a damping set-up:
    
    <<< CASEE::$255$DUA2:[DISK_SYS_INFO.NOTES$LIBRARY]CYCLE_RACING.NOTE;1 >>>
                               -< Cycle Racing >-
================================================================================
Note 457.19                       Results 1992                          19 of 28
IDEFIX::HEMMINGS "Lanterne Rouge"                    51 lines  13-APR-1992 13:13
                             -< Forks and stuff.. >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In fact, only lemond and Duclos use this telescopic fork system, they 
used it last year and there have been some modifications.  They come from the 
US manufacturer Rok-Shox (? French translation of such things is always a bit 
iffy) and this year were fitted with a mechanism which allowed the rider to 
stiffen the ride up when not on the pav� to give more the normal response.
	Duclos said it wasn't as good as a conventional fork but better than 
keeping it flexible all the time - it was noticeable that he made the 
alteration at the time when Ludwig was coming back at him.  However, he said 
� once I passed the red triangle (1km to go) I knew he had had it and I would 
win Paris-Roubaix �.

================================================================================
Note 457.20                       Results 1992                          20 of 28
PAKORA::GGOODMAN "Number 1 in a field of 1"          29 lines  14-APR-1992 22:54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
[...]    
    
    	Re. Forks.  Because of the extra weight, Lemond rode a Ti frame to
    compensate for the forks. Imagine it Chip! Taking your Merlin across
    the cobbles of the Arenberg forest! :*)
    
    Graham.
     

    
    Kevin, the other question, though, is should you riding basically
    a TT setup for the longer road rides?   
    
    You might take some air out of the tires and/or put on wider tires.
    In terms of steerability (!), flex-stems, et al., aren't going to
    make the smaller wheels handle as well as bigger wheels over bumps
    and other things that deflect you from your course.  But that's the
    compromise one makes in using the smaller wheels.  All the reviews
    I've read have been enthusiastic - that the trade-offs are worth it
    to move to the smaller wheels.
    
    cheers,
    -john

John,

Given that the long rides/races are basically TTs anyway, then why not ride a TT setup? 
Of course, comfort over the long haul is important... maybe even more important that 
efficiency.  The goal is to be as fast and as comfortable as possible, and there's two 
ways to go about this:  make a comfortable bike fast, or a fast bike comfortable.  I'm 
just trying to do the latter.  (Seems like the usual approach is the former).

Kevin

    
    True enough!
    
    -john

    
               <<< GOOFOF::NOTES:[NOTES$LIBRARY]BICYCLE.NOTE;1 >>>
                                -<  Bicycling  >-
================================================================================
Note 2331.0                      Girvin FlexStem                         1 reply
FXODEV::PTHAYER "Paul Thayer"                         6 lines  24-JUN-1992 07:18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Does anyone have any comments about the GIRVIN FLEXSTEM front
    suspension? I saw it last night for the first time in one of
    the bike stores and was wondering if it is worth the $100.
    (If it would be strictly a comfort item or if you will get
    some type of performance increase with this option installed)
    

    
    	Comfort-yes, performance-no.  I had a hand injury and it improved
    	that discomfort.  Marlboro bicycle sells them and gives discounts
    	to DEC employees.  They end up being about $85.
    
    	/mjf