It's the little details. By etchstuart weitzman returns

It's the little details. By etching some notches on the dials, theyve given us context as to where we lie in the compression circuits without having to count our clicks. Seems to me it's important in both, so when using the word "ultimate" to describe your products, you can't credibly really debate if it's *less* important. On the coil shock my understanding is there is one factory HBO tune (where there are many compression and rebound tunes) and the adjustment range is very broad with every click making a difference. [Forum] "Buckin Hell trail run race. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices, It looks superficially similar but Super Deluxe is new inside and out, Low Speed Compression gets a big new clicker and works in a different way to normal, The chunky climb/lockout lever lives on the left but it's stiff to shift, Super Deluxe gets an optional Hydraulic Bottom Out Damper as well as a reshaped bump stop, USWE Outlander 2 Hydration Pack review minimalist bag for gravel and trail adventures, Best XC tires 2022 the fastest mountain bike tires for outright speed and control, Bespoken Word sisters are doing it for themselves, DMR Vault Mag SL pedals review the lightest, fanciest, and spendiest version of a classic pedal, Best water bottle for MTB stay properly hydrated without a riding pack. Your SRAM service center can custom tune a generic aftermarket shock for your frame. We're real, passionate riders, just like you. The shaft has a square interface where it meets with the spring-backed valve assembly which keeps the assembly from unthreading during weird sideloading events. Based on my experiences with other brands, this will net out to be less expensive than selling your basic Super Deluxe and purchasing a new Ultimate-level shock, especially if your shock is due for a service anyway, meaning the labour is already accounted for. Start riding though and the difference that dial makes in terms of cornering support and ride height are very clear. Typically for RockShox it doesnt overly punish a simple setup either so you dont have to be an expert fettler to get the best from it. Particularly helpful on bikes with poor QC that sideload the sh*t out of shocks. [Forum] What are you doing to prolong bearing life? I think the SRAM version becomes more interesting than what other brands are producing when you look at the application of their HBO feature. But because you need the back pressure to prevent cavitation, and shocks see much higher pressure than forks (thanks to leverage ratios), you need that tight seal. Now for those of you interested in the feel of a coil version of the Super Deluxe Ultimate, RockShox has taken this shock back to the drawing board and come back with a redesigned chassis built around that RC2T damper, as well as another party trick, the adjustable hydraulic bottom-out bumper. Nice. I now have HBO front (Mezzer Pro) and rear (EXT Storia), and this setup is many miles ahead of my last (2019 Fox 36 GRIP2 Factory, 2019 DHX2 Factory), I'd be very hard-pressed to decide whether it is more important in the front and rear. For the Super Deluxe coil shocks SRAM refers to their "Ironclad" redesigned chassis. Bike Perfect is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. If your shock is due for a service anyway, there's a minimal extra cost in parts and labour to have it re-valved. The new approach to low speed compression might not suit everyone though. Not only was there no obvious cross talk between the adjustments, but the overall range of feel adjustment (especially when you add in the positive and negative adjustment and the refined 15-click rebound span) is extremely broad without feeling there are extreme settings for the sake of it. And, hes totally gone down the NFT rabbit hole. The flagship Ultimate versions (both air and coil) get a high-speed compression adjuster that was absent from the prior-generation shocks, and the new RC2 shock damper features the same decoupling of the two compression adjusters as the Charger 3. The Deluxe is RockShoxs lineup of straight body shocks meant for shorter-travel Trail bike duty, where weight is at more of a premium, and its feature set is paired down to match. Leave it wide open for a typically linear coil spring feel. Despite the next level feel its still significantly cheaper and lighter than Foxs Float X and Float X2 shocks too, making it a boutique vibe damper at a relative bargain price and trail-friendly weight. Theres also an inline Deluxe Coil shock for OEM use, giving more brands the ability to fit a coil spring into more frames, so look for that on aggressive budget bikes. Like the new forks, the compression damping circuits completely isolate high and low speed circuits, giving you more refined control over their performance. why no HBO in the Charger 3 damper. And the versions for each fork have significantly tweaked positive and negative air chamber volumes to work best with each respective chassis and travel range. The bottom out bumper is castled for smoother compression and theres an optional hydraulic bottom out tapered needle in the shaft damper that ramps up resistance progressively in the last 20 percent of the stroke. And like the Charger 3, the compression adjusters are indexed to the middle of the range to simplify tuning (go read the section on the Charger 3, above, if you skipped past that bit earlier). Bushing overlap is increased for a structurally stiffer and stronger shock, but more sensitive movement and RockShox have upgraded to the latest Maxima Plush Dynamic fluid. Complete valving set from a Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock. I think we can assume a Charger 3 and DebonAir+ Boxxer is on the way. Once Id done my dial due diligence and just got on with riding the snot out of it, the background changes to the shock really delivered too. In most dampers, the high- and low-speed compression adjustments act predominantly in their nominal range (though exactly what counts as high and low speed is fairly subjective), but arent fully independent, either for example, changing the low-speed adjuster still has some effect on high-speed damping, too. Apart from what I've already covered the most important thing to note with the Super Deluxe air shocks is that they use entirely new volume spacers which are not backwards compatible. Like the Pike, the Lyrik gets a new 35mm-stanchioned chassis, which is claimed to cut a tiny bit of weight and add a little bit of stiffness over the outgoing model. For an example, many owners of the Transition Patrol remove a spacer to increase shock stroke from 60mm to 65mm, which bumps the rear travel from 160mm to 170mm. Very cool to see someone, anyone, opening up new products like this. One minor thing: the rubber ring between the DU bushings is a quad-ring or X-ring, not an O-ring. If you have any questions please fire them in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer them or, if it's out of my league, track down an answer for you. RockShoxs move away from the traditional feel change of LSC adjustment from essentially a preload/threshold feel to deeper stroke support wont be to everyones taste. And even if you are that guy with a suspension diary, then this still makes it way to track your settings. I think internal noise-cancelling products like ButterCups are going to be the next front in the competition between suspension companies and also for aftermarket add-ons. There is a lot to talk about with the new 2023 RockShox Super Deluxe rear shocks, but I want to begin with the feature that I think will make the biggest difference for the most riders - an adjustable hydraulic bottom out (HBO) system. RockShox, These two adjustments function completely independently from each other, allowing for very tangible differences between each click. From a performance perspective, I can't think of any reason a rider wouldn't want to have the HBO system on their shock, but bike companies can still buy non-HBO versions of these shocks at OE, so if you're buying a bike with a MY23 RockShox Super Deluxe and this matters to you, you'll want to confirm the spec up front. Any thoughts on that? Air Shock, Ditto for IRT/dual-positive air chambers - I'd have to really believe in the mid-stroke support from a single chamber. There's also a bottom out bumper to protect the shock and keep things smooth when a rider is hitting the end. I've witnessed some particularly egregious examples over the years where bike companies fully threw their shock providers under the service truck and the suspension companies just took it. This shock will be offered in all metric sizes with an MSRP of $599 for the air version and $529 for the coil version. You will be happy to know that the coil shock springs carry forward in the same ID, OD, rates, lengths, and colours. But for those bikes with less progression in their suspension, then this will allow these bikes to enter the world of coil shocks. Changing stroke changes the position for HBO as well, so it's not just a matter of the sag graphics being in the wrong spot on an HBO-equipped shock. At first glance the 2022 version of the Super Deluxe Ultimate follows the same piggyback damper layout as the previous incarnation, but the details are different up close. Here, I'm showcasing the internals of the new RockShox Super Deluxe shocks - specifically the Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock & Ultimate coil shock - and adding some information from RockShox as well as my own thoughts where applicable, but I want to be up front about the limits of my experience. Flash Review of the new ZEB and Super Deluxe Air, Flash Review 2023 RockShox ZEB and Super Deluxe, New RC2 and RC2T Super Deluxe dampers with adjustable high- and low-speed compression, Super Deluxe Air and Coil now feature optional hydraulic bottom-out, Offsets: 37 mm (27.5), 44 mm (27.5 and 29), MSRP: $1,054 / 1,139 / 1,017 (European prices include VAT), Other features: Ultimate Bushing Package, Pressure-Relief Valves, MSRP: $790 / 588 / 763 (European prices include VAT), MSRP: $1,107 / 1,196 / 1,069 (European prices include VAT), MSRP: $843 / 912 / 813 (European prices include VAT), Travel options: 160, 170, 180, and 190 mm, Offsets: 38 mm (27.5), 44 mm (27.5 and 29), MSRP: $1,159 / 1,253 / 1,119 (European prices include VAT), MSRP: $869 / 968 / 864 (European prices include VAT), MSRP: $399 / 431 / 385 (European prices include VAT), Spring: DebonAir+, Linear or Progressive air can options, Adjustments: Rebound, low-speed compression, threshold (climb switch), Adjustments: Rebound, threshold (climb switch), MSRP: $599 / 648 / 578 (European prices include VAT), Damper: RC2T w/ optional hydraulic bottom-out, Adjustments: Rebound, high-speed compression, low-speed compression, threshold (climb switch), Damper: RC2 w/ optional hydraulic bottom-out, Adjustments: Rebound, high-speed compression, low-speed compression, Damper: RT w/ optional hydraulic bottom-out, Damper: R w/ optional hydraulic bottom-out, MSRP: $549 / 594 / 530 (European prices include VAT), MSRP: $499 / 539 / 482 (European prices include VAT). Both the high and low-speed compression dials have 5 clicks of compression, with the idea being that you have two clicks to increase damping, and two clicks to decrease damping from that base tune. The compression adjustments are approached a little differently to before, and rely heavily on the base tune set up by the manufacturer. By far the sweetest feature of all is that HBO is available on every level of air and coil Super Deluxe rear shock, from the most basic Select all the way up to Ultimate. The HBO system is designed to work with a wide range of suspension kinematics such that the range of adjustment needed to cover difference leverage curves is actually higher than the range of adjustment needed to cover different rider weights. (2) The outgoing DebonAir C1 air spring didnt have the best midstroke support, especially in the ZEB. Way Better Than The Old One, Size-Specific Water Bottle & Accessory Mounting Points. Get your head round that though and the new Super Deluxe Ultimate is an absolutely superb feeling damper that can be setup easily to suit a very wide range of riders, bikes and styles without punishing those who dont want to invest excessive dial time. A more complete rundown of the lineup is below. Favorite Trails: Oriental Express, Galbraith. We have loved it for its reasonable price, ease of setup, wide range of fitment options, and reliable performance. It's probably important to note that adding hydraulic bottom out doesn't change spring rate, it's ramping up the compression damping significantly in the last 20% of the stroke, but for some riders on some bicycles it will let them think about optimizing traction and support separately from how their bike performs when dropping to flat. I find it interesting that RS puts HBO in their shocks but not their forks, while Manitou does the opposite. Then tweak both the positive and negative air spring volumes with Bottomless Tokens. HBO + progressive spring puts coil into play for a lot more bikes without finding bottom too often. This shock has been a staple of RockShoxs lineup for a number of years now, and has been one of the most popular shocks for hard-charging mountain bikers ever since it was released. Another new feature on some of the Super Deluxe Ultimate shocks is a hydraulic bottom out bumper, which provides a set amount of bottom our resistance in the final 25% of stroke. Between Air and Coil, the Super Deluxe shocks share many parts. Coil-like plush with air adjustability, awesome all-round control and next level tuneability at a great price. Along with the HBO system the least harshness at full travel is the design goal. This is a big day for RockShox who are launching all new forks (Zeb, Lyrik, and Pike) and Super Deluxe air and coil shocks for the 2023 model year. The coil versions of the Super Deluxe that come equipped with HBO get 5 clicks of adjustment. Ive ridden Avy-equipped forks with their hydraulic bottom out system as well as Manitous and I think its a great feature in forks, even air forks where you can add volume spacers to create spring ramp. Getting your new shock tuned specifically for your bike is recommended for most performance shocks and this isn't specific to RockShox, but it's easily done at your local service center. Notably absent in the new fork releases are updates to the Boxxer. Its a shimmed system so its more a matter of if you can increase the HBO stack without it negatively affecting the seamless performance of the damper. Honestly, I'm not 100% certain why SRAM didn't just force the switch on all their Super Deluxe customers starting in MY23. In short, Buttercups are little rubber isolators that sit at the bottom of the spring and damper shafts to help damp out high-speed chatter. Choose from two different air cans, with a larger Progressive air can to add more playfulness to a bike with linear leverage rates, and a Linear air can to maintain a more linear spring rate on progressive bikes, helping you use all the travel. RockShox has also added pressure-relief valves, similar to what Fox has offered for a while now, onto all three of the new forks. New York, The shaft and eyelet assembly are one piece, meaning that no clamps are needed for disassembly and also eliminating a common shaft failure point for many brands. He loves riding and also loves sharing his experiences with others. This bottom out control tunes the final 20% of travel with 5 clicks of adjustment. The compression adjustments are approached a little differently to before, and rely heavily on the base tune set up by the manufacturer. Great forks are one thing, but if you want your bikes suspension performance to feel properly balanced front to rear, the rear shocks need performance to match. Hopefully this has been insightful. Thanks to some brilliant suspension nerds I've been privileged to work with in the past I'll even give myself credit for being more than competent at setting suspension bikes up and doing bike fits. Those five clicks can turn a bike from feeling clean, bright and lifted to properly sucked down and grippy. This is the feature were most excited about, because it allows this shock to play nicely with a wider range of progressivity curves. The biggest new change is a Hydraulic Bottom Out (HBO), with both fixed and adjustable options. There's a secondary compression assembly inside the shock with its own piston and valve, as well as a couple of shims, and it's position sensitive for the last 20% of the shock's stroke for coil shocks and the last 25% of the stroke for air shocks. The Zeb is still available for both 27.5 and 29 wheels and with 160, 170, 180, or 190 mm of travel. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Click To Stay Up On Our Weekly Gear Giveaways. NY 10036. Coil Shock, This brings me back to the point about shock tuning from earlier. I guess a follow up question would be how wide of a range is the user adjustable HBO providing? RockShox says that the new spring both increases small-bump sensitivity and provides better midstroke support than the prior iteration. Thats because (like the forks) the LSC makes no discernible difference to sensitivity from a pedaling/small bump POV and youll be clicking that blue dial back and forth wondering if its broken at first. Very nice write-up and we'll documented! It's important to note that while less expensive shocks have decreased external tunability, the internal structure will be the same (tune dependent). The Pike is available for both 27.5 and 29 wheels and with 120, 130, or 140 mm travel.

In the seal head there are now two sized DU bushings with an o-ring sandwiched between them. Four-position high speed compression damping adjustment is then done with a 3mm Allen bolt. I think adjust-ability has a limit for a lot of riders, and feeling the change with each click would be more productive to many, in my opinion. Its hard to tell where the balance is between the more sophisticated, back pressure quietened damping circuits, smoother bushings and fluid, and better overlap in terms of influencing the feel, but the overall result is delicious. Even the HBO is designed such that it only affects the last 20 or 25% of the stroke (for Coil and Air, respectively) but outside of that pocket, it's imperceptible. Get the latest industry news direct to your inbox. Hatched in Yorkshire he's been hardened by riding round it in all weathers since he was a kid. There is a degree of upgradeability with the Super Deluxe rear shocks, thanks to the fact that you can swap damper head units, but it is not possible to add HBO after the fact. Cheers, I didnt see the separate components to say if its a quad seal, x-ring, or o-ring between the bushings myself - so I probably should have just said rubber ring.. I guess you could say its a more linear process. The emphasis on every click making a difference is key. But the new Deluxe line gets a revised chassis with extra bushing overlap for improved stiffness and less binding. Another piece of house keeping, reiterated from my fork teardown article, is that I have not ridden the new RockShox suspension. So, designing a fork is more ~straightforward~? While I know a lot of riders appreciate the tunability of high performance shocks, I do wonder how many riders are on an a top-end unit who would have been perfectly well served on a more basic shock like the Super Deluxe Select+ where they could set their rebound and HBO settings and accept that the compression settings were set-and-forget from the factory. Note how this Super Deluxe coil shaft has a square interface to keep the shock from unwinding. I can only imagine that HBO will change a lot of aggressive riders' setups and I wonder how it will affect base compression tunes as well. Super Deluxe Coil, All three new forks get chassis updates that well describe in more detail in their respective sections below, but the core technology chiefly, an entirely new damper and air spring is shared across the range. Other fork trims get the standard bushing package, and upgrading to the Ultimate bushings requires an entire UItimate lower leg casting with the bushings pre-installed. The new DebonAir+ spring is conceptually similar to DebonAir springs of old its still a conventional single-positive-air-chamber design with a self-equalizing negative spring chamber via a dimple in the stanchion but many of the finer details have been reworked. Cheers! The valves come standard on Ultimate and Select+ series forks, but can be retrofitted to the other models with the new 2023 chassis versions. The more modest update means that the new Charger 3 damper and DebonAir+ spring can be retrofitted to earlier model-year ZEBs, unlike the Pike and Lyrik. Learn how your comment data is processed. The climb/lock switch is also very stiff, so its not the easiest thing to move on the fly unless your thumbs are strong enough to pry on DH tires without levers. Whether you set it up coil-plush or racer efficient, its exceptionally responsive, quiet, calm and consistently impressive from patter bumps to horrible last run of the day hang ups. At that point (stick or otherwise) a Charger 3 / Coil Boxxer becomes a possibility. I know my way around a fork pretty well, and I've seen the insides of plenty of shocks. (3) The prior-generation Super Deluxe shocks worked very well but werent the most fully featured. RockShox sells the Super Deluxe shocks with a wide range of manufacturer-specific tuning options along with the generic aftermarket version of the shock. Between the reoriented seal head (purple) and a relocated dimple for balancing the positive and negative spring, the Super Deluxe air shocks are fresh and going forward for MY23. I can appreciate that SRAM felt they had to reinvent dampers and air systems to make a performance leap, but I can also lament the lack of backwards compatibility. The Super Deluxe is RockShoxs line of external-reservoir shocks for longer-travel Trail through DH bikes, and the new versions get a new damper with a lot of the same features as the Charger 3 one in the new fork lineup. If your shock is HBO-equipped there's no more just swapping in and out grey travel spacers to change stroke. Its a full redesign from the outgoing Charger 2.1, including a switch to a coil-spring-backed IFP design (from a bladder on the Charger 2.1). The air can is faceted externally top and bottom now and all the elements of the body have a much sharper finish than before. But, I always feel a tinge of imposter syndrome when I'm writing about the guts of rear shocks. Features, The compression adjusters are labeled with that zero position clearly defined at the center of the range, with tick marks to either side of it to give a quick and easy visual confirmation of where theyre set, without needing to sweep through the adjustment range and count clicks from fully closed. If Vorsrpung can do a version of their Smashpot coil conversion that work with the buttercup it could a good solution. Okay, RockShox doesn't say anything in their marketing material about bike companies with bullsh*t QC/QA in general or the additional issues that stem from yoke or Trunnion shock mounting systems. This creates significantly more support for the shaft through increased bushing overlap. My plan for a future follow up piece is to check out what brands are releasing bikes with Super Deluxe shocks without HBO and to follow up on why they made that decision. At any rate, I'm not here to argue about whether your next bike should have a Trunnion mount or not - mine certainly won't - but if you're curious about the subject I don't think anyone has done a better job of covering it than Steve-from-Vorsprung's 'Durability, and how to prevent it'.