Naild launches R3ACT suspension stem with 60mm of travel

You wait ages, and then loads of suspension stems come along at once. The latest comes from Vancouver-based company Naild, which has just unveiled its new R3ACT suspension stem. Using a parallelogram design the stem provides 60mm of suspension.

Suspension stems were once popular (okay we’re being a bit generous) on mountain bikes back in the 1990s. Long since confined to the history books, they appear to be making something of a comeback, albeit in the road cycling market. There’s certainly more interest in comfort these days, with wider tyres and sportive bikes being all the rage as cyclists seek out extra ride comfort, especially with the generally poor state of the roads.

road.cc has reported on two similar suspension posts in the past, the StaFast and the ShockStop. It’s perhaps city and urban bikes that such a product is well suited to, and it appears that this is the market the company is aiming its new R3ACT stem at. But it also reckons the growing gravel market and the latest bikes coming out in the allroad market are a natural home for such a product. With Cannondale’s Slate featuring a 30mm Left suspension fork, it’s clear that bike designers are considering front suspension for such riding. 

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The patented design provides 60mm of travel and features a parallelogram design, with a pivot in the top of the stem body and a lower linkage connecting the front of the stem to the steerer tube section of the stem. Naild says the system is designed to feel like a rigid fork on smooth roads, and only activate when the front wheel encounters a sizeable impact like a pothole, bump or crack in the road.

"I've been thinking about a different approach to suspension for a long time", says Naild’s Darrel Voss. "Bicycles are very efficient with human input generally residing above 93% output to the ground. But human output is relatively small at around 5 watts per Kg. So anytime the wheels lose contact with the ground or are put under compression loads there will be losses - loss of control, braking, speed, etc., which requires energy to overcome.

“The individual losses may be small on individual events but they are significant, especially over time. The breakthrough of the R3ACT System is that it allows the wheel to trace the ground for a more balanced contact that minimizes loss in forward momentum. And that's the key, preserving as much of the rider's energy as possible. Bumps, potholes, chip sealed roads, expansion cracks, railroad crossings; all these small events rob precious energy hurting efficiency and eventually slowing you down and tiring you out. Saving energy benefits all riders from top level racers to casual cyclists."

Naild, in case you’re wondering, is also the company behind the novel thru-axle and disc brake mount that we saw on the new Marin Gestalt a little while ago.

More at www.naild.it