Vecnum’s freeQENCE suspension stem works brilliantly on gravel bikes. Unlike most other suspension stems on the market, the freeQENCE uses a parallelogram design, meaning it doesn’t pivot, so your hand position stays the same as the stem moves up and down, absorbing impacts. It is easy to adjust without disassembly and feels super solid in use. A game changer for your gravel adventures and highly recommended.
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Vecnum freeQENCE stem - Technical details
Vecnum is a name you might not have heard of. It's a small high-end bike parts manufacturer from the foothills of the Alps in southern Germany, designing, testing, manufacturing and selling all from its own facility.
The freeQENCE is a parallelogram suspension stem design made from 7075 aluminium with titanium pivots and hardware, and fitted with self-lubricating bearings designed to last the lifetime of the stem. It is not a pivoting stem. The ultra-compact design means the stem is torsionally stiff and resists twisting.
The shock-absorbing vertical movement is not linked to where you hold the bar, unlike ‘single-pivot’ stems, so whether you're in the drops, on the hoods, or at the ends of your flat swept bar, it behaves the same due to Vecnum’s design and kinematics.
The stem has 30mm of movement: 10mm of upward and 20mm of downward travel. Vecnum claims that the stem absorbs 75% of all trail vibrations and reduces rider fatigue, which means more miles in the saddle, offering significant relief to wrists and a reduction in numb, tingling hands.
Vecnum’s patented internal spring linkage makes adjustment much easier than most stems or forks on the market, as disassembly is not required. The stem can be adjusted externally for rider weight and personal riding style via a 3mm hex key in between the upper and lower ‘parallelogram arms’ on the right-hand side. There are damped end stops in both movement directions to prevent damage should the end stop be reached while riding. The freeQENCE has a wide rider weight range of 50-120kg and is supplied from the factory with five turns from soft.
Vecnum does all the design, engineering, manufacturing and testing in-house at its Allgäu facility, but sends it to be tested independently by the EFBE Prüftechnik GmbH Laboratory to its gravel standards for stems and handlebars. EFBE has been the leading test laboratory in Germany for mechanical tests on bicycles and components since 1995, and tests products to destruction.
The stem is available in three lengths, all with a positive 2.5-degree rise – 90mm, 105mm and 120mm – all for standard 1 1/8in steerer tubes and for 31.8mm handlebars only (alloy or carbon). Vecnum offers a two-year warranty for each stem.
The 105mm stem we’re testing has a quoted weight of 299g, but ours actually came in a smidge under that at 297g on our Park Tool scales.
Vecnum freeQENCE Suspension Stem - Performance
To put it very simply, its performance is stunning. With 30mm of movement, the FreeQENCE stem offers more travel than many single-pivot designs. While that doesn't sound like much, it's enough to take a significant sting out of the cobbles around Bath and especially on the corrugations on the Imber Range Perimeter Path around Salisbury Plain.
The beauty of the Vecnum FreeQENCE is that it's only likely to weigh about 120-150g more than your existing stem. At 297g for the 105mm length, it is hardly heavy. It looks like it should weigh much more when you first pick it up, such is the oversized parallelogram design, but it is surprisingly light in the hand because of the complicated CNC machining, both visible and invisible, in its manufacture.
Fitting it only requires a few considerations; the first is that your bar is 31.8mm in diameter. There is no 35mm version. The second is that you have enough clearance for the 90mm stem to operate without clashing with your headset or frame. A tool is available, and instructions are in the owner's manual for what you need to measure to make sure you have the required clearance. The two longer stems have no such restrictions.
You also have to consider your existing stem and bike setup, and that the FreeQENCE can only be fitted in a 2.5-degree positive rise – there is no negative option. This was fine for me and just required a small spacer readjustment to keep my bar in the same position on my bike. If you're running a negative stem or slammed stem with no spacers, this will mean a bit of readjustment. But with the gains on offer, it will be worth it.
And, as I said earlier, there are only three lengths to choose from, which is fewer than some of its rivals. If you want something other than 90, 105 or 120mm in length without changing your bar or overall setup, then the FreeQENCE might not be for you.
Assuming that all the considerations above work for you, you should be able to get this on your bike within 10 minutes and be out in the car park or local trail ready for a test run.
Once fitted and you're standing astride your bike, pushing down hard on the bar, you can immediately feel the difference between the FreeQENCE stem and other suspension single-pivot designs. The smoothness of the movement without any rotation is instantly apparent.
After fitting any suspension stem comes the initial test ride, and boy, was there an immediate smile on my face even before I had played with the adjustment. I used a rutted section of farm lane near my home with roots and rocks crushed into it, which I repeatedly rode up and down, adjusting the spring rate until it felt right.
It's worth taking your time and experimenting as it’s so easy to do, and you cannot damage the stem by ‘bottoming’ it out – as long as you remember it's a gravel bike, not a mountain bike stem, so no big drops or jumps. One small tool and a bit of repetitive riding will do the trick. But even if you change your mind mid-ride, a 3mm hex key is not hard to carry with you, and adjustments are quick. No pump or elastomers are required here. It is fantastically easy to play around with and goes straight to the top of the tree in terms of ease of adjustability.
Out on the trail, the FreeQENCE stem immediately removes the hard edges from the rocks and roots and smooths out the trail under you. Not only do you benefit from the downward movement, but the rebound is well controlled and there is no harsh top-out.
I've had a long test with this stem and have taken it to the Alps and Pyrenees as well as trails across the UK, and no matter where I have ridden, within aggressive gravel constraints, the stem has been absolutely amazing. My hands and wrists felt fresher for longer than with any stem system I’ve ridden before.
There is a more natural feeling when compared with single-pivot stems, as there is no slight rotational movement regardless of where you grip the bar. There is no dip when you first get out of the saddle, and I’ve never felt the need for a lock-out switch. Hauling long technical climbs is better than ever, as that small amount of upward travel allows for more control up the rough sections – and on warp-speed descents.
Your only consideration is to remember to float your backside off the saddle because you’ll quickly forget how fast you are going and how much sting the stem removes from trail imperfections under the front wheel – but not the rear. But that is hardly a Vecnum complaint and happens with all hardtail bikes.
The only other way to deliver this level of suspension control and shock absorption is to fit a suspension fork to your bike (assuming you can). Compared with gravel suspension forks with 40mm of travel, the 30mm of travel offered by the FreeQENCE is not so different once you've dialled in the sag on the fork. But here is the huge win for Vecnum (and all suspension stems): you will hardly notice the increase in weight compared with the extra kilo that many forks will add to your fancy lightweight gravel steed.
And you can happily ignore the worry of axle-to-crown length unless you are lucky enough to have the most up-to-date suspension-corrected gravel frame geometry. A modern gravel suspension fork is likely to be a fair amount, think 25-40mm longer than your existing fork, and so will change the geometry and feel of your bike, especially the 60mm travel options. The FreeQENCE makes no such demands on the geometry of your bike – everything stays the same. Just get on and ride and smile.
Vecnum freeQENCE Suspension Stem - Verdict
So it weighs under 300g, has 30mm of travel, doesn’t need a service, and will not affect your bike’s feel or geometry… so what’s the catch? Well, in truth, I haven’t been able to find one. I have always been interested in reducing vibrations to my hands and wrists and was an early advocate of Redshift and Cane Creek stems. Both offer a good amount of trail vibration reduction. But both feel a little odd with their rotational dip when you first ride with them. It doesn't last long, and the positives outweigh the minuses for me, so I've been using them for years.
However, the freeQENCE stem has no such oddities with its parallelogram design. There’s no dip or unusual feeling when you're hauling up a ludicrously steep climb; they just behave normally and feel solid. The patented internal spring linkage makes adjustment much easier than other stems or forks, as disassembly is unnecessary, and it can be fine-tuned with a 3mm hex key mid-ride, in the pub garden or car park.
There are a few minor negatives if I have to be picky. Firstly, it's not recommended for mountain biking, so if you're looking for an XC stem for a rigid mountain bike and you like to ride it pretty hard, then you will need to look elsewhere. Not really the fault of Vecnum, but important to consider.
Also, the freeQENCE is not available in a large range of sizes (at least for the moment), and other manufacturers offer more choice with multiple stem lengths and even the ability to be flipped and run in a negative setup. Step forward Redshift. And finally, it is pretty pricey for a suspension stem, but then the level of manufacturing, finish and performance is impressive.
The Vecnum freeQENCE is outstanding. Its industrial design may put some people off, but I like the appearance and it’s had plenty of admirers. The vibration reduction is terrific, as is the control offered by the suspension stem over the hard-edge hits that corrugated trails and roots deliver in abundance around Wiltshire. For a minimal weight increase and reasonable cost compared with a suspension fork, the Vecnum will undoubtedly improve your gravel ride. Your hands will ache less, and so you will ride further. Win-win.
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