tungsten

So, unsure of "elastomer" seat/stem set up on this bike. Anyone have any experience with this particular product?

Raleigh Bikes, 2017 Willard 1

syncro87

I'm sitting here on a bench along the bike trail taking a break . Riding a 2017 Willard 2. Has the elastomer seatpost and stem. I think they are called transx or something like that.

I replaced the stem with a redshift shockstop, but not because there was anything wrong with the stock part. I just wanted to try the redshift stem.

Basically the stem and seatpost have a small rubber or polyurethane bushing in them with the idea being a little bit of road or gravel buzz reduction.

The bike is what I would consider to be a smooth riding bike considering it is aluminum. Rides nice. I don't know how much of that is relatively large tires with some cushion and how much is transx elastomer magic. I think more the former.

Personally, in the 2018 lineup, I think the Willard 3 is the sweet spot of value. The 1 and 2 lose the better fork and a bunch of other stuff. You can get a 3 for around $800 using the Raleigh corporate deal.

Let me know if you have further questions. I've got about 2k miles on my Willard if I had to guess.


Edit. Sorry just realized you said 2017 not 2018 Willard 1. If memory serves the 1 is basically my bike with Shimano Sora 2x instead of the Sram Apex 1x I have. Maybe narrower tires iirc. Very similar. Solid bike.

tungsten

32c

Thanks. I'm guessing from pics there's no issue with flipping stem over.

syncro87

As far as flipping the stem, I seem to think the elastomer works in one direction. I'd have to go down to the garage and dig out the OE stem to be sure. If memory serves, though, it is a compression thing, and flipping it might put it into tension and negate any effect. There is a pivot built into the stem, and some kind of rubbery stuff in there that allows some squish. Maybe you can flip it.

Good news is, you can easily ditch that stem for another if you didn't like it.

Here you go. These are basically what the Willard comes with. You can click on the stem and post individually in this linked page.

Link =
TranzX-inspring your ride


Edit:

Ok, the curiosity got the better of me and I went and dug that stem out and gave it a critical eye.

So what you have is basically a vertical collar and a hinge point and then the horizontal part of the stem. Two pieces where there is normally one cast piece. Looks like in between the vertical part and the horizontal part is a urethane or rubber like collar, i.e. a bushing between the two stem parts. There also appears to be a similar material rubbery plug at the fore part of the vertical piece, where it meets the horizontal beam, again, this seems to be a resistance piece designed to allow a small amount of compliance.

From what I can tell without actually remounting it to my bike, the stem should be able to be flipped. I don't see why it couldn't, having just looked at it. Not sure if the damping effect is the same both directions, though. The elastomer may only be designed to be primarily compressed one direction. idk.

Here is a guy who has a Willard who has some tidbits on the matter. He went to a ShockStop like I did, but he mentions the TranzX unit:

https://ridinggravel.forumchitchat.co...review-8347162

tungsten

lol....
Given the low # of gravel miles the bike will see I think I'll just swap out the stem at purchase.

Thanks again for all that was very helpful.