After trying three different stems, dozens of different combinations of spacers, many handlebar positions and a few angles of rise I still didn’t have the bar set up to my complete satisfaction. By trying two different lengths of stem I worked out the ideal reach would be 90mm with as close to zero rise as I could get.

That meant buying another. The two I had were both bought second hand and I can re-sell them but I decided for the permament one I would buy new. Then I came across an advert for a suspension stem. I had previously considered getting a suspension seat-post but never thought about a stem. I started looking in to the idea and after some head-scratching decided to splash out. There were a few on e-bay, mostly Chinese copies but I decided to go for quality and bought a German made Vecnum Frequence. The only dealer who supplies them in Scotland is a bike shop in Edinburgh and I was going to buy one through their on-line site. Fortunately, I was watching the item on their e-bay site and was offered it at at a good discount. I snapped it up and it arrived this morning.

The quality is good and I think it looks good on the bike. It’s bulkier than a plain stem although not much more than a MTB one which I was also considering. It took a fair bit of experimenting with spacers but I think I’ve got the set-up right. I won’t cut the steerer until I’ve used it for a while as I may still want to adjust the height of the bars again. It will take a longer ride to ascertain if the suspension makes a great deal of difference to the ride comfort but any reviews I’ve read say it does.

I’ll do a fuller review after I’ve used it for a few months and on longer rides.