Redshift Cycling Components: Seven Unusual Upgrades for Road and Gravel

Introduction

Redshift builds components that sound like a gimmick until you ride them. The line-up covers a seatpost with two saddle positions, a suspension stem, clip-on aero extensions, a heavily flared handlebar, a suspension seatpost, and two sets of grip pads that sit under or beside your bar tape.

Nothing here is aimed at shaving grams off a race bike. The shared idea is comfort and versatility: more hand positions, more riding positions, and less road buzz reaching the rider.

Prices sit at the upper end of the component market, and the company describes most of these parts as premium products. Each one also solves a fairly narrow problem, which is worth keeping in mind before committing. These parts were requested directly from the company for evaluation, and no payment was involved.

Redshift Dual-Position Seatpost

The Dual-Position Seatpost is exactly what the name suggests: a seatpost with two saddle positions and a mechanism that lets you switch between them while riding. It is priced at £199.99.

Measured on a test bike, reach to the handlebars is 66 cm in the rear position and 61 cm in the front, a difference of 5 cm. A parallelogram linkage keeps the saddle on the same plane as it moves, so the saddle angle does not change, and saddle height rises slightly from 69 cm to around 70 cm. The result is that leg extension stays broadly the same in both positions.

In use it feels like it should move, and it simply does not. Anyone who has ridden a time-trial bike will recognise the aggressive, forward feel it unlocks, but here that feel is available on an ordinary road or gravel frame with a single flick.

Redshift ShockStop Suspension Stem

The ShockStop Suspension Stem comes in two versions. The lighter one is £250, and the standard version is around £189.99. It mounts like a conventional stem on road and gravel bikes, but adds shock absorption at the handlebars, which is where rough surfaces are felt most.

It is available in a range of lengths and angles, can be flipped, and uses interchangeable elastomers so you can set the amount of suspension travel to suit your weight. The design has a single pivot point, which means the bars can tilt forward slightly under load. Riders who prefer a more controlled feel may want to look at two-pivot designs, though those tend to cost considerably more.

On broken tarmac and potholed roads the difference is noticeable. Even in an aero position on road tyres, the stem evens out the chatter that usually makes a rough section feel sketchy.

Redshift Quick-Release Aerobars

The Quick-Release Aerobars are well made extensions with quick-release levers at the clamps. They clip on and come off in around four seconds, and they cost £199.99.

The appeal is for riders who want extensions occasionally rather than permanently. If you do not want them, they come off and go in a bag. If you do, they add a set of hand positions for long days, and pairing them with the dual-position seatpost lets you rotate forward into a proper aero posture.

That combination works out at roughly £400 for the two parts, which turns a standard bike into something usable for time-trial style efforts. It will not match a dedicated time-trial machine, but it is a considerably cheaper route to a similar position.

Redshift Kitchen Sink Handlebar

The Kitchen Sink Handlebar is a heavily flared drop bar aimed at gravel and adventure riding. It comes in two versions: the standard bar at £100, and a version with a loop at the front at £140. The matching bar bag is sold separately at £40.

The flare is the headline feature. It opens up a wide range of hand positions, and there is enough room between the drops for a bar bag, which the front loop is designed to carry. Widths vary across the range, and the smallest version measures around 40 cm at the drops.

Because the flare is so aggressive, the effective width at the shifters is much narrower. Centre to centre, that comes out at roughly 34 cm, with the natural hand position closer to 40 cm. Anyone replacing a standard drop bar should check those numbers rather than matching the nominal size.

Redshift ShockStop Suspension Seatpost Pro

The ShockStop Suspension Seatpost Pro is £300, with a non-Pro version at around £230. Suspension is built into the post itself, and it fits most standard frames. This is a 27.2 mm post, and it ships with shims so it can be fitted to a range of seat tube diameters.

The amount of movement is adjustable. Springs are supplied, and a preload adjuster at the base of the post lets you set the feel according to your weight. On gravel and on potholed roads the effect is significant: the post takes the edge off the surface in a way a rigid post simply cannot.

The Pro version is lighter than the standard model, and it compresses less noticeably. Some riders will prefer that calmer behaviour, particularly on a gravel bike. Setup takes a little patience, since spring choice and preload interact, but the range of adjustment means most riders can find a setting that suits them.

Redshift Cruise Control Top Grips

Cruise Control Top Grips are small rubberised pads that sit underneath the bar tape on the tops of a drop handlebar. They create a larger platform for the hands, which makes that position more comfortable over long distances.

They also shorten reach noticeably. That raises your posture when you are holding the tops and widens the gap between the shifters and the tops, so you end up sitting more upright. It is a real change, and not one that every rider will want. The grips cost £40, and Redshift also sells longer bar tape so the pads can be covered properly.

Redshift Cruise Control Drop Grips

Cruise Control Drop Grips apply the same thinking to the drops. They create a bigger platform for the hands, with a grippy surface, and they fit all types of drop handlebars. Unlike the top grips, these are not covered with bar tape: you start the tape where the grips end. They cost £40.

Like the rest of the range, they look unnecessary on paper and make more sense in use, particularly on long descents or into a headwind where time spent in the drops adds up.

Buying Advice

Every product here is priced at the upper end of its category, and the cheapest items are the two sets of grips at £40 each. The question worth asking is whether the specific problem each part solves is one you actually have.

If you ride long distances and struggle with a single fixed position, the Kitchen Sink Handlebar and the Quick-Release Aerobars address that directly by multiplying your hand positions. If rough surfaces are the issue, the ShockStop stem and the suspension seatpost target road buzz at the two contact points where it is felt most. The dual-position seatpost is the most specialised item in the range and makes the most sense for riders who regularly want a forward, aero posture without buying a second bike.

The grips are the easiest place to start, since they are the least expensive and the change is easy to reverse if the new reach does not suit you. In every case, these are parts for riders who are curious about a different approach to comfort rather than for anyone chasing the lightest possible build.

Conclusion

Redshift occupies a small niche. The parts are unusual, the prices are high, and most riders will not need any of them. For the riders who do, the appeal is clear: more positions, less vibration, and a bike that adapts to the ride rather than the other way around.

Each component here is well made, and the design work shows in the details, from the parallelogram linkage on the seatpost to the shims and springs supplied with the suspension post. These are not impulse purchases, but they are the kind of upgrade that keeps a bike comfortable long after the novelty of a lighter part has worn off.