New Fox rear suspension



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Whahoo

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Has any of tried the new 2004 Fox rear shock with the Pro Pedal Dampening. It's supposed to filter
out any rider induced bob while pedaling. I think they're offering the same thing the Specialized
Epic with the Ergo Brain offers. Any insight?
 
"whahoo" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Has any of tried the new 2004 Fox rear shock with the Pro Pedal Dampening. It's supposed to filter
> out any rider induced bob while pedaling. I think they're offering the same thing the Specialized
> Epic with the Ergo Brain offers. Any insight?

I haven't ridden it yet but believe it's supposed to compete with Progressive's 5th Element stable
platform shocks. There are no adjustments to fiddle with (Fox's selling point) so you take what you
get. The 5th is 5 way adjustable (6 if you count spring preload like Manitou does) and the
adjustments really work. The Ergo Brain is more of an automatic lockout that doesn't open up until
after the first hit. It rides like a hardtail until you slam a bump and the valve opens up allowing
the shock to work for the next bump (assuming there is one).

Mike
 
"Michael Dart" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "whahoo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Has any of tried the new 2004 Fox rear shock with the Pro Pedal Dampening. It's supposed to
> > filter out any rider induced bob while pedaling. I think they're offering the same thing the
> > Specialized Epic with the Ergo Brain offers. Any insight?
>
> I haven't ridden it yet but believe it's supposed to compete with Progressive's 5th Element stable
> platform shocks. There are no
adjustments
> to fiddle with (Fox's selling point) so you take what you get. The 5th is
5
> way adjustable (6 if you count spring preload like Manitou does) and the adjustments really work.
> The Ergo Brain is more of an automatic lockout that doesn't open up until after the first hit. It
> rides like a hardtail until you slam a bump and the valve opens up allowing the shock to work
for
> the next bump (assuming there is one).
>
> Mike

I've got a Specialized Epic with the Fox fork and rear shock (Specialized sent dealers the Fox fork
separately as a no-cost upgrade from the Manitou Skareb Comp fork). Mike's last statement isn't
quite accurate... the inertia valve opens on the bump and the shock works on that bump, not opens on
one bump and the shock works on the next bump. I think that the typical inertia seat belt in an
automobile is a reasonable example in reverse... stop quick enough and the inertia mechanism stops
the seat belt from moving on that stop, not on the next stop. The seat belts wouldn't be much good
in an accident if you had to wait until the next accident for them to work... much the same with the
Fox rear shock!

BTW, it was this new technology that finally convinced me to buy my third mountain bike... bobbing
with full suspension and having a bouncy rear end with suspension in the front only just didn't
appeal to me. After having ridden full Reynolds, full Campy, tubular clad road bikes and a decent
hardtail Mountain bike for years, it was hard to convince me it was worth upgrading from my old
mountain bike. I had the first mountain bike for a year, the second one for about 20 years (with a
lot of upgrades and maintenance over the years) and now the Epic and a Specialized road bike.

John
 
"John Grossbohlin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Michael Dart" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "whahoo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Has any of tried the new 2004 Fox rear shock with the Pro Pedal Dampening. It's supposed to
> > > filter out any rider induced bob while pedaling. I think they're offering the same thing the
> > > Specialized Epic with the Ergo Brain offers. Any insight?
> >
> > I haven't ridden it yet but believe it's supposed to compete with Progressive's 5th Element
> > stable platform shocks. There are no
> adjustments
> > to fiddle with (Fox's selling point) so you take what you get. The 5th
is
> 5
> > way adjustable (6 if you count spring preload like Manitou does) and the adjustments really
> > work. The Ergo Brain is more of an automatic lockout that doesn't open up until after the first
> > hit. It rides like a
hardtail
> > until you slam a bump and the valve opens up allowing the shock to work
> for
> > the next bump (assuming there is one).
> >
> > Mike
>
> I've got a Specialized Epic with the Fox fork and rear shock (Specialized sent dealers the Fox
> fork separately as a no-cost upgrade from the Manitou Skareb Comp fork). Mike's last statement
> isn't quite accurate... the
inertia
> valve opens on the bump and the shock works on that bump, not opens on one bump and the shock
> works on the next bump. I think that the typical
inertia
> seat belt in an automobile is a reasonable example in reverse... stop
quick
> enough and the inertia mechanism stops the seat belt from moving on that stop, not on the next
> stop. The seat belts wouldn't be much good in an accident if you had to wait until the next
> accident for them to work...
much
> the same with the Fox rear shock!
>
> BTW, it was this new technology that finally convinced me to buy my third mountain bike... bobbing
> with full suspension and having a bouncy rear end with suspension in the front only just didn't
> appeal to me. After having ridden full Reynolds, full Campy, tubular clad road bikes and a decent
> hardtail Mountain bike for years, it was hard to convince me it was worth upgrading from my old
> mountain bike. I had the first mountain bike for a year, the second one for about 20 years (with a
> lot of upgrades and maintenance over the years) and now the Epic and a Specialized road bike.
>
> John
>

I think we're two examples of different impressions of the Epic I've heard. I'm coming more from a
downhiller full plush bike perspective and you're more hardtail, road bike. I didn't like the
hardtail/locked out feeling of the epic and wasn't interested in giving up a plush ride for pedaling
efficiency. I did give it a test ride on a real trail and it just didn't do it for me. I guess it's
more what you're used to. Compared to what I normally ride that was the impression the inertia valve
gave me. I like the Progressive system more in that I can feel it resisting pedaling forces, putting
more power to the wheel, but it is still active.

Mike
 
"Michael Dart" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "John Grossbohlin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "Michael Dart" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > >
> > > "whahoo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:[email protected]...
> > > > Has any of tried the new 2004 Fox rear shock with the Pro Pedal Dampening. It's supposed to
> > > > filter out any rider induced bob while pedaling. I think they're offering the same thing the
> > > > Specialized
Epic
> > > > with the Ergo Brain offers. Any insight?
> > >
> > > I haven't ridden it yet but believe it's supposed to compete with Progressive's 5th Element
> > > stable platform shocks. There are no
> > adjustments
> > > to fiddle with (Fox's selling point) so you take what you get. The
5th
> is
> > 5
> > > way adjustable (6 if you count spring preload like Manitou does) and
the
> > > adjustments really work. The Ergo Brain is more of an automatic
lockout
> > > that doesn't open up until after the first hit. It rides like a
> hardtail
> > > until you slam a bump and the valve opens up allowing the shock to
work
> > for
> > > the next bump (assuming there is one).
> > >
> > > Mike
> >
> > I've got a Specialized Epic with the Fox fork and rear shock
(Specialized
> > sent dealers the Fox fork separately as a no-cost upgrade from the
Manitou
> > Skareb Comp fork). Mike's last statement isn't quite accurate... the
> inertia
> > valve opens on the bump and the shock works on that bump, not opens on
one
> > bump and the shock works on the next bump. I think that the typical
> inertia
> > seat belt in an automobile is a reasonable example in reverse... stop
> quick
> > enough and the inertia mechanism stops the seat belt from moving on that stop, not on the next
> > stop. The seat belts wouldn't be much good in an accident if you had to wait until the next
> > accident for them to work...
> much
> > the same with the Fox rear shock!
> >
> > BTW, it was this new technology that finally convinced me to buy my
third
> > mountain bike... bobbing with full suspension and having a bouncy rear
end
> > with suspension in the front only just didn't appeal to me. After having ridden full Reynolds,
> > full Campy, tubular clad road bikes and a decent hardtail Mountain bike for years, it was hard
> > to convince me it was
worth
> > upgrading from my old mountain bike. I had the first mountain bike for a year, the second one
> > for about 20 years (with a lot of upgrades and maintenance over the years) and now the Epic and
> > a Specialized road
bike.
> >
> > John
> >
>
> I think we're two examples of different impressions of the Epic I've
heard.
> I'm coming more from a downhiller full plush bike perspective and you're more hardtail, road bike.
> I didn't like the hardtail/locked out feeling
of
> the epic and wasn't interested in giving up a plush ride for pedaling efficiency. I did give it a
> test ride on a real trail and it just didn't
do
> it for me. I guess it's more what you're used to. Compared to what I normally ride that was the
> impression the inertia valve gave me. I like
the
> Progressive system more in that I can feel it resisting pedaling forces, putting more power to the
> wheel, but it is still active.
>
> Mike

Mike,

You're onto something there... the downhiller "ride" is exactly what I wasn't looking for! Where and
how I ride makes uphill efficiency more important than downhill comfort--I'm old school "stand up
and hang your butt out" on the down hill stretches and am more interested in making it down safely
than I am in hitting 60 mph...

John
 
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