Push, White Industries, Silca - Interbike 2016
Push Industries
Push Industries' Elevensix coil-sprung shock caused a stir when it was released in 2015, in part due to its industrial / futuristic appearance, and also for its performance out on the trail. Not content to rest on their laurels, Push recently updated the Elevensix with a new coating on the body and shaft, a revised piston valve shape, and a larger reservoir body.
The larger ports can be seen on the piston valve on the right.
Increasing the oil reservoir size makes it even more unlikely that any performance changes will occur on long, non-stop runs.
The new coating, called Micro-XD, is only produced in the United States, and is said to be slipperier and stronger than what was used previously.
The new piston valve shape has an greater port volume, which allows for increased high speed rebound. This should allow the shock to maintain the plush, ground hugging feel that it's known for, while also feeling a little more lively as it goes deeper into its stroke.
An 11.6% increase in reservoir volume seems like more than a coincidence, but Darren Murphy, the owner of Push, swore that ending up with that number was purely by chance. The decision to increase the reservoir size came about when Push realized just how many of their customers were bolting the shock onto their all-mountain bikes and heading to the bike park, where the heat generated by those long runs can affect a shock's performance.
The new features will be standard on all new Elevensix shocks, and for the lucky individuals that already own an Elevensix, Push will be offering them as an upgrade at a to-be-determined price.
Push are now offering tools for bike shops or home mechanics, including these 7000 series aluminum sockets.
They also have a new fork seal press, a fitting complement to their line of seal kits.
White Industries
White Industries may be better known for their square taper cranksets (yes, those do still exist), and smooth rolling hubs, but it was the new 12-speed compatible MR30 cranks that were getting all the attention. The cranks spin on a splined 30mm spindle, and use a narrow-wide chainring that's .005" narrower than an 11-speed chainring to allow it to work with SRAM's Eagle chain. There will be Boost and non-Boost versions of the rings, with prices ranging from $75-95 USD; the cranks and spindle are $300. The final weight is expected to be between 700-800 grams.
Silca
Silca's new T-Ratchet and Ti-Torque kit was a runaway hit when the company debuted it on Kickstarter, receiving 1200% of their funding goal. The tool can be used as a mini-ratchet (10 bits are included), and with the addition of the Ti-Torque attachment it turns into a torque indicator that reads between 2-8Nm. That indicator relies on a what Silca call a "ti torsion beam", a titanium rod that holds the bit, and then twists the same amount each time the tool is used in order to produce a torque reading. This isn't a 'click-type' tool - you do need to keep an eye on the tool's markings to see when the proper torque is reached, but the simplicity of the design means that it should produce accurate readings for years and years.
Once the Kickstarter orders are filled, the T-Ratchet is expected to be available in January for $98 USD.
Silca also debuted their Seat Roll Premio ($49), which uses a BOA closure to attach it underneath a seat.
It's aimed at the road crowd, but it did look like a mountain bike tube might be able to squeeze into one of the tool roll's three pockets.
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zig zag: .0015"
standard paper from 2000 on: .0040-.0045
older paper standard: .005"
Yup, machinist life indeed.
Drives me insane.
America needs to get their act together and anything that isn't metric needs to die off.
Welder here. Same goes. We need to know both inside and out.
It hurts even more when you find out a project is half metric and half imperial...
But. There is an argument amongst some that since imperial measurement was based off human body parts (a foot is the length of a man's foot, an inch is based off a man's thumb joint, a yard a forearm etc) that architecture and design using imperial measurements is more aesthetically appealing...
Usually, construction workers have minimal education...it has nothing to do with ease, but everything to do with being stubborn to learning metric, despite it being a far simpler way of measuring. Metric is used in most every other country for a reason...it makes sense, you slap on or take off zeros, it's great for measuring distances too. Here....tell me which makes more sense for larger measurements and is easier to convert in your head:
5280 feet = 1 mile
1000 meters = 1 kilometer
or if you think smaller scale cause that's too extreme an example
12 inches = 1 foot
1000 mm = 1 meter
Now please...tell me which one is logical and which one is arbitrary numerical conversion nonsense?
i.imgur.com/OqNDHko.jpg
If the only stance imperial measurement has is that it's universally agreed that it's easier to read a tape measure...well that speaks more about people that design tape measures than the system itself. Inches and feet are used in building in countries that use imperial. Look at any UK building supply/supplier and they still use mm and m and ml and L for measurements of plywood, cinderblocks, brick, wood, fiberglass sheets, epoxy, mortar, staining, etc...
I agree these conversion are shit...and there's so many damn units because everybody and their brother in academia wants to live in infamy and have a unit of measurement named after them or be associated with it in hopes it becomes the new standard.....
Become an engineer, people who are intimately familiar and comfortable with conversions who see the merits of EVERY numerical system....then tell me if you still feel the same about the imperial system. Oops, I might have taken too much action there.....going through college and all....
I shouId know, my mom and my dad are eng., pIus I am a few courses away from graduating...
New standards = more $$$
That being said, I worked for a well known (publicly traded) shock absorber company for 9 years, and I can safely say "its not that simple".
Meeting some of the damping force characteristics without introducing electronics and keeping it all mechanical is still pretty hard. Do you want a linear? digressive? progressive? do you want the valves to open at a certain frequency? Making it even worse is that fact that people have different taste.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/12610147
two different types of DLC.
@mikealive Place and order and I will!
FTFY
Im just curious about the actual difference between msrp and the price that normal joes like me pay for some bike items. Im all in for small companies that produce top quality products in-house. back in the day I bought grafton, nuke-proof, etc...I wish I could support push, zerode, dvo and a couple other the way they deserve, hope to help them by spreading the word at least
I think 11-6 is a great product
Happily pay for something if it's worth it. Only time you are going to pay £900 for a fork is if you buy a fox at rrp, my pike was under £500 so why spend another £400 for something that doesn't offer £400 of performance gain.
Seriously though, it's nice to see ideas like the torque tool and boa seat bag.
I wish Unior was bigger in the USA.
Wander if that would happen with a DHX2...?
Kudos to Push for paying attention to consumers and actually evolving the product in a positive way. It even sounds like they're going to make some of these improvements available to people with older versions of the shock. Backwards compatibility in the bike industry! What a novel concept
***I realized after my first post that I have completely broken a cable once, contrary to my first post. I used them as an experiment do see how long they'd last. They worked for a good two weeks for near daily use as they continued to fray, so had I warrantied them immediately, I never had an issue. And on a saddle bag, it should see far less wear and tear***