In my experience with the Kinekt stem, it only gave enough dampening on my 650b gravel bike to take maybe 55 or 60% from the worst of the front end impacts while ripping singletrack. It seems like the goal is to fluidly maintain a safe and balanced handlebar position while your weight shifts around, such as tackling a sharp turn through uneven terrain. more for performance rather than comfort,I l(maybe because that's how I ride this bike?) it minimizes vibration and subtly adjusts stem angle to keep you in control.