When riding serious downhill courses, the stress on the suspension fork, stem and handlebars is enormous. Downhill and freeride mountain bikes are designed to deal with this rough stuff day in, day out. They have special suspension forks, also known as Triple-Crown, to withstand the high stresses of downhill riding. For this type of suspension fork, an adapted and compact stem is needed, the Direct Mount stem. This stem is made for maximum stiffness and stability and is bolted directly to the top crown of the suspension fork. With the high forces acting on the handlebars and fork during high-speed downhill riding and jumping in rough terrain, the free-rider must be able to rely 100% on the stem to avoid serious accidents. Besides Direct-Mount, very short Ahead stems are also used in combination with a "normal" suspension fork.