Excellent review. I have both of these, used the Redshift Pro for a couple of years but the Vecnum is streets ahead in terms of performance for gravel use. I also used tri bars with both and the experience on the Redshift was just weird. Kudos for including that. Funnily enough, I just took the Redshift out of retirement today and fitted it to my winter road bike, for which I think it is better suited as I spend most of my time on the hoods and it takes the buzz out of our poorly maintained roads.
Cheers! Glad to hear my experience is similar to yours. I am not getting rid of my Redshift by any means. It will also live on the Polygon once my new bike gets built up this winter. It's a very good stem.
After watching your initial review (and a few others) I bought the Vecnum stem for my Specialized Diverge that I use for randonneuring and gravel bike events. This means I stacked the Vecnum on top of the Future Shock 2 that came with the bike so now I have 40 mm travel in the front. I also typically ride 35 mm Conti GP5000 AS TR tires on the road. Like you I have aerobars and it's nice to be able to ride more confidently on rougher terrain or take accidental big hits. The rest of your review on performance is spot-on. Although the esthetic may not be pleasing on a traditional round tube bike, it looks purposeful on a modern swoopy carbon bike and the parallelogram design matches my eeSilk+ suspension seatpost (I like my squish). And it's also buried between the aerobars, computer, and top tube pack so most people don't notice it. Also the weight difference is pretty trivial compared to the total weight of a fully loaded randonneur and their bike. My only question is durability, but after 8 months and over 10k km, including Unbound gravel and a Grande Randonnée in the mountains, it still performs as out of the box. It works for me. Your mileage may vary.
Great to hear! Love the creativity of using the Vecnum alongside the future shock. Did you need a shim to make it fit? Glad to hear you are having good experience with durability. I had concerns with titanium and aluminum together corroding. No issues so far.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Specialized sells a spacer that fits a normal stem to the Future Shock. The Vecnum is slightly taller than the post of the FS, so I cut the spacer in half and separated the halves so that there was spacer between each pinch bolt on the stem and the post. Having both in series is overkill for randonneuring but is great for chunky descents on gravel.
Yes, I had a titanium drop bar bike with a Lauf from 2016-2018. 700x2.4" tires for offroad and 35mm Vittoria Voyager Hypers for on road. Had a custom sized rigid fork originally that set the geometry with road tires was perfect for road riding, but could swap in a suspension fork for good geo offroad (slack HTA, STA, higher BB). I ended up just using the Lauf all the time as there was lots of mixed terrain riding in Ontario. The Lauf was best for mild offroad, but felt sloppy on tarmac. Didn't like the way it cornered loosely and it bobbed under heavy pedaling. I would buy another if I were to do gravel riding regularly.
Thank you for the review! I am about to order the Vecnum (90mm). Hoped for some discount during Black Friday and/or Xmas, but it's not that kind of a company :D Vecnum is my go-to choice as I ride aerobars quite a lot. I agree, the optics is not the best, but the Aerobars (which are not nice either) with the phone mount in the middle will hide most of it anyway. We ain't gonna win any beauty contests, I guess... 😅😉
Form follows function! I hope you get lots of enjoyment out of your Vecnum. We need to have ugly bike contests. I bet randonneurs would do well, although triathletes would be tough competition.
Nice review. What I like about the Redshift the most is amelioration of road buzz. I find that I don't get ulnar nerve numbness until I've been riding 80km or more. Previously, all the padded gloves in the world didn't help - I'd be shaking my hands after 15 km or so. I set my Redshift so there's not too much pitching or bouncing except for the most extreme holes, bumps etc. Thus, it's stiff enough that I don't lose power climbing and don't bounce around too much hitting stuff at speed on descents. For what I want and the way I set the Redshift, I'm really happy. With your really complete and easygoing presentation though, I want to try the Vecnum now too.
Thank you for the feedback. I don't think I'll ever be able to do 'social media excitement presentation style', but I'm happy to have an audience that doesn't need that. Both stems are great, and the Vecnum is really expensive. I think anyone happy with the Redshift should feel confident continuing to enjoy it. I'm not getting rid of mine, that's for sure. I may stiffen it up some and try to emulate your experience though. It sounds nice. I've been running 60+70 elastomers for a long time, so maybe it's time for 60 or 70 +80.
I'm happy with Redshift, but a) I don't use tri-bars b) I just wanted something to take the sting out of sharp bumps on my gravel bike. It makes it feel like I've let 10 psi out of the front tire but without any of the squishiness in steering that would come with actually doing that. And it looks (more-or-less) like a normal stem rather than something out of a kid's toy set.
This might be a bold statement, but I think the Vecnum actually looks good on your bike. With the large amount of accessories, including the aerobars, the Vecnum mostly blends in. The CNC milling on the sides is vaguely reminiscent of the spacers being used on the headset and on the aerobars, and the parallelogram linkage, blends in with the busier handlebar setup right next to it.
Nice comparison, very thorough (like all your videos). I've been riding with the Redshift for about a year. Love it. I noticed the Coros Dura. What are your thoughts on that head unit? I'm very close to purchasing one, mainly because of the battery life.
Thanks! It's fun to get nerdy. Yeah, I bought the Dura recently but haven't had enough time with it to test out some key functions to make a judgement on it. It's initial release was really bad, and I compiled a list of 30 complaints made across various reviews. There have been two firmware updates in the meantime and should have another one this month or January. Some issues have been fixed, others have not, and a few are TBD. Specific to endurance cycling, I need to test turn by turn accuracy and alert behavior (including roundabouts) with a GPX file, off-course and rerouting behavior, and climb pro behavior. I hope to put out a video on it maybe a week after the next firmware update. Stay tuned!
Impressive video, Overbiked Randonneuring. Looking forward to seeing your next upload from you. I smashed that thumbs up button on your content. Keep up the fantastic work! Your detailed comparison of the two stem designs was enlightening. Given the differences in their performance on descents, how do you think rider weight distribution impacts the effectiveness of each stem during long rides?
Thank you for the kind words and the smash! I think both stems allow a rider to have a more forward bias in weight distribution (if they prefer) since they protect the hands from impacts and reduce upper body fatigue. The Vecnum does this a bit better since it is more cushy on the drops when descending. Both stems have enough adjustability to target a given load of a road rider's weight distribution. Does that answering the question as you asked it? Cheers!
Yeah, some AliExpress ones. Shaves about 200g from the old Shimano bars. I wanted to test full arm support before making an expensive purchase. I'm in love with full arm support, but not these bars specifically. I am building up a new bike this winter that will feature some other full arm support bars that hopefully perform a bit better and have a better design.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I’m in the same market. Which full arm support bars are you looking at? I’m curious if I could pair some nice full arm support bars either the redshift quick releases.
Individual sensitivity to the Redshift stem seems to vary a fair bit. Personally found that the sensation completely disappeared after my 1st or 2nd ride and I never notice it (and I usually descend on the hoods). Nice review, have been curious as to whether the Vecnum would be worth the price difference on a new bike.
That's true. I experienced that progression when I first bought it, and just got used to everything. After more experience, the little issues started to pop back into my consciousness. Strange aero bar behavior was first, then rough descents on the drops, and finally a few scary moments descending on the hoods brought it back into full recognition. Descending on the hoods hadn't been an issue when my hoods were angled upwards. I found a level position to be more comfortable for general riding, but that came at the cost of those scary moments going downhill. If you don't use aero bars and are happy descending with the Redshift, then the Vecnum may not provide much benefit.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Interesting, thanks for the reply. Every road ride for me ends with a short gravel descent home which I do on the hoods (conditions vary from smooth, to corrugations where you just want to let go of bars). Unweighted, hoods are angled up tiniest amount. I know it sounds stupid, but I run aero bars with just the pads, and no bars. Before I would sometimes briefly just put my forearms on the handlebars, hands together, so raised pads (spacers similar to yours) is infinitely more comfortable/stable whilst still giving hand/back relief from usual positions (and bonus of being more aero). Removed the bar extensions and as I didn't like seeing them in front of me when not using them, took away the nice "floating" sensation of riding a bike (only doing short rides though, likely return them for longer ones). So Redshift stem likely no suspension/movement when on the pads.
Would love a comparison between the transx suspension stem and the fsa suspension stem. Both are "minimalist" suspension stem aimed at high frequency vibrations, without the travel to make the bike feel funny.
Both stems have a wide range of stiffness that can be achieved, which will impact shock absorption rates. In my standalone review of the Vecnum, there is data regarding absorption at my preferred setting and the softest setting. As I mentioned, testing the Redshift is impossible using my current protocol. It's absorption varies depending on hand load, load distance from pivot point, and sensor location relative to load and pivot point. Subjectively, my preferred settings on both stems feel similar in absorption at the hoods position. The Vecnum outperforms the Redshift in absorption on the drops, the tops, and using aero bars because it isn't impacted by leverage.
thanks for sharing. I loved the future shock on my old roubaix and I miss it on my new bike. Unfortunately none of these suspension stems come in shorter lengths 60/70mm that are needed for a modern slacked out gravel build. Agree the vecnum is ugly lol, but sounds like its performance is similar to the future shock which would be great!
For commuting and touring, I would save some money and get the Redshift. It also matches steel bike aesthetics better. I've had the Vecnum for over a year and needed no A/S service. That's good since it is not serviceable by the user. The Redshift is somewhat serviceable, in that you can clean and swap the elastomers and preload wedge. I have had to replace the preload wedge once.
Cirrus Kinekt is priced in line with Redshift. It targets gravel and has a metal spring to better suit rougher conditions. It comes with a hefty weight penalty though. CyclingAbout has reviewed it on his website, which I highly recommend. I'd love to see more product development to compete in this area, but Vecnum seems to be the top choice for road riding. As these are complex, safety critical parts, I'd avoid knockoff versions.
Hi there! I am no expert, but isn't your frame too large if you need such a short stem (assuming it's a road bike)? Anyway, I don't think they can reduce the length of the Vecnun without sacrificing performance. But let's see what the future will bring.
@@StefanPolak my new gravel frame came stock 70mm stem; it accounts for longer top tube geo and is meant to improve handling (similar to how mtn bikes have short stems).
Doubtful. The linkage is pretty crowded already and the 90mm can foul on some frames such that they have you print out a compatibility guide. Would a 90mm stem and shorter reach drop bars work for you? I sometimes shorten my reach by rotating handlebars forward which result in the brake levers being nearer when clamped at the correct angle. I've been tempted to trim the drops 1-2cm to allow more rotation.
@stefanpolak yeah like Patrick said, gravel bike stems are getting shorter because top tubes are getting longer. Google “progressive geometry,” it’s all trickling down from the MTB world
@@overbikedrandonneuring it depends on which bike I use it on. I’m partial to bikes with more progressive geometry but 90mm might be doable. I do the same with the drop bars and rotation.
It just occured to me that these are both wrong. The top link should be shorter rotating the bars inward a tiny bit as the suspension goes throught its travel. Rotating forward away from you cannot be the best way to do this.
@@oldanslo yes, more or less linearly along the axis of the head tube, yes. But since the bar is actually dropping away from you it should actually tilt back toward you a tiny bit instead.
@@weatheranddarkness Not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but a linkage that rotates the bars towards the rider as it travels downward reduces the net downward motion and therefore shock absorption. And the net downward motion would vary with hand position.
@@oldanslo yes, but then your muscles aren't trying to hold your angle during the translation because the angles don't lean away from you. Better to add travel once you've got the geometry right than live with bad geometry because it gives you more travel.
Excellent review. I have both of these, used the Redshift Pro for a couple of years but the Vecnum is streets ahead in terms of performance for gravel use. I also used tri bars with both and the experience on the Redshift was just weird. Kudos for including that. Funnily enough, I just took the Redshift out of retirement today and fitted it to my winter road bike, for which I think it is better suited as I spend most of my time on the hoods and it takes the buzz out of our poorly maintained roads.
Fan of Community?
Cheers! Glad to hear my experience is similar to yours. I am not getting rid of my Redshift by any means. It will also live on the Polygon once my new bike gets built up this winter. It's a very good stem.
After watching your initial review (and a few others) I bought the Vecnum stem for my Specialized Diverge that I use for randonneuring and gravel bike events. This means I stacked the Vecnum on top of the Future Shock 2 that came with the bike so now I have 40 mm travel in the front. I also typically ride 35 mm Conti GP5000 AS TR tires on the road. Like you I have aerobars and it's nice to be able to ride more confidently on rougher terrain or take accidental big hits. The rest of your review on performance is spot-on.
Although the esthetic may not be pleasing on a traditional round tube bike, it looks purposeful on a modern swoopy carbon bike and the parallelogram design matches my eeSilk+ suspension seatpost (I like my squish). And it's also buried between the aerobars, computer, and top tube pack so most people don't notice it. Also the weight difference is pretty trivial compared to the total weight of a fully loaded randonneur and their bike.
My only question is durability, but after 8 months and over 10k km, including Unbound gravel and a Grande Randonnée in the mountains, it still performs as out of the box.
It works for me. Your mileage may vary.
Great to hear! Love the creativity of using the Vecnum alongside the future shock. Did you need a shim to make it fit? Glad to hear you are having good experience with durability. I had concerns with titanium and aluminum together corroding. No issues so far.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Specialized sells a spacer that fits a normal stem to the Future Shock. The Vecnum is slightly taller than the post of the FS, so I cut the spacer in half and separated the halves so that there was spacer between each pinch bolt on the stem and the post. Having both in series is overkill for randonneuring but is great for chunky descents on gravel.
This was an excellent review, thank you for going into real world experiences and demonstrating clearly the function of both stems.
Have you ever tried a Lauf fork? It is an eyesore, but at least on paper it sounds like a clever option.
Yes, I had a titanium drop bar bike with a Lauf from 2016-2018. 700x2.4" tires for offroad and 35mm Vittoria Voyager Hypers for on road. Had a custom sized rigid fork originally that set the geometry with road tires was perfect for road riding, but could swap in a suspension fork for good geo offroad (slack HTA, STA, higher BB). I ended up just using the Lauf all the time as there was lots of mixed terrain riding in Ontario. The Lauf was best for mild offroad, but felt sloppy on tarmac. Didn't like the way it cornered loosely and it bobbed under heavy pedaling. I would buy another if I were to do gravel riding regularly.
Thank you for the review! I am about to order the Vecnum (90mm). Hoped for some discount during Black Friday and/or Xmas, but it's not that kind of a company :D Vecnum is my go-to choice as I ride aerobars quite a lot. I agree, the optics is not the best, but the Aerobars (which are not nice either) with the phone mount in the middle will hide most of it anyway. We ain't gonna win any beauty contests, I guess... 😅😉
Form follows function! I hope you get lots of enjoyment out of your Vecnum.
We need to have ugly bike contests. I bet randonneurs would do well, although triathletes would be tough competition.
Nice review. What I like about the Redshift the most is amelioration of road buzz. I find that I don't get ulnar nerve numbness until I've been riding 80km or more. Previously, all the padded gloves in the world didn't help - I'd be shaking my hands after 15 km or so. I set my Redshift so there's not too much pitching or bouncing except for the most extreme holes, bumps etc. Thus, it's stiff enough that I don't lose power climbing and don't bounce around too much hitting stuff at speed on descents. For what I want and the way I set the Redshift, I'm really happy. With your really complete and easygoing presentation though, I want to try the Vecnum now too.
Thank you for the feedback. I don't think I'll ever be able to do 'social media excitement presentation style', but I'm happy to have an audience that doesn't need that.
Both stems are great, and the Vecnum is really expensive. I think anyone happy with the Redshift should feel confident continuing to enjoy it. I'm not getting rid of mine, that's for sure. I may stiffen it up some and try to emulate your experience though. It sounds nice. I've been running 60+70 elastomers for a long time, so maybe it's time for 60 or 70 +80.
Great review and practical insights thanks. Nb stacking the pads on the aerobars can also make a useful difference in comfort and stability.
I'm happy with Redshift, but a) I don't use tri-bars b) I just wanted something to take the sting out of sharp bumps on my gravel bike. It makes it feel like I've let 10 psi out of the front tire but without any of the squishiness in steering that would come with actually doing that. And it looks (more-or-less) like a normal stem rather than something out of a kid's toy set.
And I thought CyclingAbout review was comprehensive. 😂
This might be a bold statement, but I think the Vecnum actually looks good on your bike. With the large amount of accessories, including the aerobars, the Vecnum mostly blends in. The CNC milling on the sides is vaguely reminiscent of the spacers being used on the headset and on the aerobars, and the parallelogram linkage, blends in with the busier handlebar setup right next to it.
Thank you for the kind words. I look at my bike as if it were designed by a thieving magpie. There is a certain beauty in that.
Nice comparison, very thorough (like all your videos). I've been riding with the Redshift for about a year. Love it.
I noticed the Coros Dura. What are your thoughts on that head unit? I'm very close to purchasing one, mainly because of the battery life.
Thanks! It's fun to get nerdy. Yeah, I bought the Dura recently but haven't had enough time with it to test out some key functions to make a judgement on it. It's initial release was really bad, and I compiled a list of 30 complaints made across various reviews. There have been two firmware updates in the meantime and should have another one this month or January. Some issues have been fixed, others have not, and a few are TBD. Specific to endurance cycling, I need to test turn by turn accuracy and alert behavior (including roundabouts) with a GPX file, off-course and rerouting behavior, and climb pro behavior. I hope to put out a video on it maybe a week after the next firmware update. Stay tuned!
Impressive video, Overbiked Randonneuring. Looking forward to seeing your next upload from you. I smashed that thumbs up button on your content. Keep up the fantastic work! Your detailed comparison of the two stem designs was enlightening. Given the differences in their performance on descents, how do you think rider weight distribution impacts the effectiveness of each stem during long rides?
Thank you for the kind words and the smash! I think both stems allow a rider to have a more forward bias in weight distribution (if they prefer) since they protect the hands from impacts and reduce upper body fatigue. The Vecnum does this a bit better since it is more cushy on the drops when descending. Both stems have enough adjustability to target a given load of a road rider's weight distribution. Does that answering the question as you asked it? Cheers!
Did you get new aerobars? Which model is that? Great review, as always.
Yeah, some AliExpress ones. Shaves about 200g from the old Shimano bars. I wanted to test full arm support before making an expensive purchase. I'm in love with full arm support, but not these bars specifically. I am building up a new bike this winter that will feature some other full arm support bars that hopefully perform a bit better and have a better design.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I’m in the same market. Which full arm support bars are you looking at? I’m curious if I could pair some nice full arm support bars either the redshift quick releases.
@@rdx913 I'm going with these and crossing my fingers they work out: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_ooBVjn5
I actually like the vecnum look
Individual sensitivity to the Redshift stem seems to vary a fair bit.
Personally found that the sensation completely disappeared after my 1st or 2nd ride and I never notice it (and I usually descend on the hoods).
Nice review, have been curious as to whether the Vecnum would be worth the price difference on a new bike.
That's true. I experienced that progression when I first bought it, and just got used to everything. After more experience, the little issues started to pop back into my consciousness. Strange aero bar behavior was first, then rough descents on the drops, and finally a few scary moments descending on the hoods brought it back into full recognition. Descending on the hoods hadn't been an issue when my hoods were angled upwards. I found a level position to be more comfortable for general riding, but that came at the cost of those scary moments going downhill. If you don't use aero bars and are happy descending with the Redshift, then the Vecnum may not provide much benefit.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Interesting, thanks for the reply. Every road ride for me ends with a short gravel descent home which I do on the hoods (conditions vary from smooth, to corrugations where you just want to let go of bars). Unweighted, hoods are angled up tiniest amount.
I know it sounds stupid, but I run aero bars with just the pads, and no bars. Before I would sometimes briefly just put my forearms on the handlebars, hands together, so raised pads (spacers similar to yours) is infinitely more comfortable/stable whilst still giving hand/back relief from usual positions (and bonus of being more aero). Removed the bar extensions and as I didn't like seeing them in front of me when not using them, took away the nice "floating" sensation of riding a bike (only doing short rides though, likely return them for longer ones). So Redshift stem likely no suspension/movement when on the pads.
Would love a comparison between the transx suspension stem and the fsa suspension stem. Both are "minimalist" suspension stem aimed at high frequency vibrations, without the travel to make the bike feel funny.
Thanks for the ideas! Both of those are very minimalist, and the Transx is quite cheap.
Would be more interested in shock absorption as opposed to travel. Which is better at this?
Both stems have a wide range of stiffness that can be achieved, which will impact shock absorption rates. In my standalone review of the Vecnum, there is data regarding absorption at my preferred setting and the softest setting. As I mentioned, testing the Redshift is impossible using my current protocol. It's absorption varies depending on hand load, load distance from pivot point, and sensor location relative to load and pivot point. Subjectively, my preferred settings on both stems feel similar in absorption at the hoods position. The Vecnum outperforms the Redshift in absorption on the drops, the tops, and using aero bars because it isn't impacted by leverage.
thanks for sharing. I loved the future shock on my old roubaix and I miss it on my new bike. Unfortunately none of these suspension stems come in shorter lengths 60/70mm that are needed for a modern slacked out gravel build. Agree the vecnum is ugly lol, but sounds like its performance is similar to the future shock which would be great!
Redshift recently launched stems with 55mm and 70mm lengths.
@@andrewmcalister3462 didn't know that, thanks!
I have Commuting/touring steel bike . which stem should go for Vecnum or Kinekt ?
Vecnum stem needs after sales service ?
For commuting and touring, I would save some money and get the Redshift. It also matches steel bike aesthetics better.
I've had the Vecnum for over a year and needed no A/S service. That's good since it is not serviceable by the user. The Redshift is somewhat serviceable, in that you can clean and swap the elastomers and preload wedge. I have had to replace the preload wedge once.
But redshifts has single bolt system ?
Any cheaper alternatives to the Vecnum that are double pivot worth recommending?
Cirrus Kinekt is priced in line with Redshift. It targets gravel and has a metal spring to better suit rougher conditions. It comes with a hefty weight penalty though. CyclingAbout has reviewed it on his website, which I highly recommend. I'd love to see more product development to compete in this area, but Vecnum seems to be the top choice for road riding. As these are complex, safety critical parts, I'd avoid knockoff versions.
@@overbikedrandonneuring thanks man!
I’m assuming Vecnum isn’t coming out with a 70mm any time soon, sadly.
Hi there! I am no expert, but isn't your frame too large if you need such a short stem (assuming it's a road bike)? Anyway, I don't think they can reduce the length of the Vecnun without sacrificing performance. But let's see what the future will bring.
@@StefanPolak my new gravel frame came stock 70mm stem; it accounts for longer top tube geo and is meant to improve handling (similar to how mtn bikes have short stems).
Doubtful. The linkage is pretty crowded already and the 90mm can foul on some frames such that they have you print out a compatibility guide. Would a 90mm stem and shorter reach drop bars work for you? I sometimes shorten my reach by rotating handlebars forward which result in the brake levers being nearer when clamped at the correct angle. I've been tempted to trim the drops 1-2cm to allow more rotation.
@stefanpolak yeah like Patrick said, gravel bike stems are getting shorter because top tubes are getting longer. Google “progressive geometry,” it’s all trickling down from the MTB world
@@overbikedrandonneuring it depends on which bike I use it on. I’m partial to bikes with more progressive geometry but 90mm might be doable. I do the same with the drop bars and rotation.
It just occured to me that these are both wrong. The top link should be shorter rotating the bars inward a tiny bit as the suspension goes throught its travel. Rotating forward away from you cannot be the best way to do this.
The bars don't rotate with the parallelogram linkage of the Vecnum. They do translate along an arc.
@@oldanslo yes, more or less linearly along the axis of the head tube, yes. But since the bar is actually dropping away from you it should actually tilt back toward you a tiny bit instead.
@@weatheranddarkness Not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but a linkage that rotates the bars towards the rider as it travels downward reduces the net downward motion and therefore shock absorption. And the net downward motion would vary with hand position.
@@oldanslo yes, but then your muscles aren't trying to hold your angle during the translation because the angles don't lean away from you. Better to add travel once you've got the geometry right than live with bad geometry because it gives you more travel.
@@weatheranddarkness Please explain in clear language what you consider to be the 'right' geometry for the motion.