Originally Posted by
chas58
As for compliance, bikes can be pretty plush in the rear (especially with a goo seat post). Most complaints are in the front.
I stopped by the trek and spec. store yesterday. Dang, that diverge has lots of tire clearance. I do think it is odd that the trek had the iso-decoupler in the rear, but not the front. I would put a (mini) suspension on the front rather than the rear (just like a mountain bike – ever hear of a rear suspension and ridged fork?).
Personally, I don’t put much weight on my front hands, so I don’t really notice my front stiff end (other than the precision when CX racing or threading a tight course). Still, if you are doing any rough road riding, it is a benefit. If you are doing a lot of pavement and out of the saddle accelerations – maybe not.
I totally agree that the front of the bike is the place where we should seek for more comfort and not the back. I did some testing to find out how big is difference in terms of front and back vibration and in general front of the bike can provides up to 4 and a half more vibrations to our body than the back (see my test here:
https://gravelbikes.cc/features/wher...iding-comfort/ ). Thas is a huge difference and this is why we should embrace solutiuons like redshift suspension stem and Specialized Futureshock. Hopefully in near future we will see more of them...