Sea Otter Spy Photos: RockShox Vivid Air Shock

Apr 15, 2010
by Mike Levy  
photo
RockShox Vivid Air shock


You'll have to wait until tomorrow for all the info, but this air sprung damper from RockShox was spotted on the back of Curtis Robinson's Knolly Podium.


photo
RockShox Vivid Air sag indicator



photo
RockShox Vivid Air compression adjustment


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Reviews and Tech Reviews RockShox Rockshox Vivid


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78 Comments
  • 3 0
 The shock looks great, they had one on a new V-10 Peaty edition at the XX release party in Monterey tonight. Did not get to mess with the shock but it looks fantastic as did the new XX groupo for X7, X9, and X0 is so nice. anybody else there? Such a sick party!
  • 2 0
 I chatted to Tyler Morland, who was riding it in Whistler. He told me that it was by far the best air shock available for DH and that he couldn't feel any difference to his coil Vivid. Maybe he said that, cause he had to or maybe his Vivid just didn't perform very well. Or it is just a great shock ;-)
  • 2 0
 I find it interesting that the reserve is located on the opposite side of the shock than the canister. looks like crap but if it rides like marshmallows for a good price...make other things on your bike sexy to draw attention away from the shock
  • 5 1
 You haters have zero idea what you are talking about until you ride this shock....
  • 5 2
 maybe this will be an air shock that can be used for DH, since the sag indicator goes up to 40%. you wont be doing slopestyle or XC with that much sag..
  • 3 2
 agreed
  • 11 2
 genius it's on a knolly podium...not an xc or a slopestyle bike.....
  • 1 0
 i think it the shock that the santa cruz syndicate team were given the option of running at south african world cup last year?
  • 2 1
 nateb- i meant maybe this will be a shock that can actually be used for DH, unlike DHX airs which have issues
  • 1 0
 jeza08, The blackbox guys ran them in practice and Peaty said it was nearly there in terms of matching the vivid coil's small bump compliance...
  • 3 0
 ye and hes not saying that because hes sponsored and is trying to hype a product up before its released
  • 2 0
 More than likely. I'd wait for reviews to see if his statement is true...
  • 1 0
 I like the look of it....digging how its designed on & assuming for DH bikes.....

Special note to the air valve being parallel with the shock body...smart cause there isnt a chance of breaking it.
I'm also stoked because Air shocks can benefit from the dual-adjustment rebound as they are naturally progressive and dont need the high-low speed compression....
  • 1 0
 if this works as well as the coil with the adjustment and such they will be golden. if they dont get it figured out right the first time people will always say its shit no matter if it is or isnt thats just how this stupid site iss....
  • 4 0
 my fox dhx air is immence!

if this is any better i will be shocked :O
  • 2 0
 seeing as how the VIVID coil is a shock designed for dh i would assume this air shock is its counterpart i have only seen this and its prototypes on dh bike
  • 2 1
 ugly as sin. I run all RS suspension on both bikes (air and coil) but this thing looks like a manitou and here in Cali we think Manitou is garbage...so by resembling a manitou this thing looks stupid.
  • 2 0
 I think because this is only a prototype they obviously cba with the appearance of the shock and just focused on it functional side, i can guarantee you that by the time this is released to the public it will have been pimped up completely
  • 6 0
 Manitou actually made what is possibly the best air shock around for Dh use, Fox DHX Airs are absolute pieces of shit
  • 3 0
 If Vivid Air will good like Vivid Coil, that will be perfect, I really like RS, all stuff from that factory are great.
  • 2 0
 I hope that shock will let rock shox have a fair part in the rear suspensions market. (sry for my bad english)
  • 2 0
 you got that shit on lockdown
  • 2 1
 Air shox's have looked the same for a very long time. This one almost need the time to get used to it Smile Good stuff RockShox!
  • 3 0
 looks sick RockShock keep up the good work
  • 2 0
 Looks Ugly but If it does the job I dont care. Hopefully its better then my DHX Air that blows up all the time
  • 1 0
 Hey guy's here's an update on the vivid Air and also the new vivid coil! www.sicklines.com/2010/04/16/2011-rockshox-vivid-air
  • 1 0
 looking very very nice....
  • 1 0
 Awesome info on sicklines.com. "Hot Rod," That's friggin nuts, and awesome! August 10, vivid air, here I come...
  • 2 0
 Minnar and peaty had it on there bikes, start of this year.
  • 3 3
 I don't understand why so many people care what it looks like. Function over form people. Lets what 6-12 months and see how the performance stacks up.
  • 2 0
 people care about the look of any bike components. in a big way the whole bike industry is a fashion thing whether you like it or not. the older Monarch and Vivid shocks have already proved that you can rely on RockShox and I believe this new Vivid Air will be as good as the others, i'm also glad they change slightly the shock appearance.
  • 1 0
 Sure, things "should" look nice. Ultimately though, performance is the main priority. However, it seems alot of people in here think esthetics is the biggest priority. Real bikers want the best performance. Everyone just wants to look cool while they're standing around talking about their bike.
  • 3 0
 oh dam. thats sweet.
  • 1 0
 Good idea!
Alternative for dhx air and roco.)
What's the price?
  • 1 0
 "You'll have to wait until tomorrow for all the info, but this air sprung damper from RockShox was spotted on the back of Curtis Robinson's Knolly Podium."
  • 1 0
 Looks interesting, just need to see some official specs from RS.
  • 2 0
 kinda got a chubby
  • 1 0
 Not going for the looks, but im not moving to air so i cant complain.
  • 1 0
 very nice Smile
  • 2 2
 Im wondering if they come in the 10.5'' version.
  • 1 0
 me gusta
  • 1 2
 Im stoked for an air vivid on ma sunday
  • 2 3
 A friend had one, it's f*cking shit.

Don't buy it. Wink
  • 1 0
 well look it looks a dirt bike thing that could snap right away or somfin
  • 3 4
 Nice!!
  • 16 4
 Never really liked the look of the large canister, but that's me
  • 6 4
 Does not do it for me.
  • 15 6
 well, considering that i have only been disapointed with RS lately, and that i pretty much have to admit that i love fox, all ive gotta say is: ill put my money on a good old/new DHX air if i wanted an air shock that will last forever and feel like a coil shock..or even a zocchi roco air, since they seem never to break down, and fell like, well, a marzocchi!...but nicely done RS...
  • 5 0
 konamandan, how does it not do it for you? we have no clue how it performs!! I mean, it may not look super sexy, but if it's any better at all then why would you care? I'm interested to see some performance reviews on this baby and see the specs... could be a great thing. Could also suck hard.
  • 7 1
 Ugly as sin, but if it's better/cheaper than something like a DHX Air, RS are onto a winner....
  • 13 0
 ^^ i think some people still believe that a 'pretty looking' shock works better and/or makes you faster..... sigh>
  • 20 0
 Well it does make you look way cooler... no arguing with that! Lol, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a sexy looking part. Fox has some gdamn sexy forks... but their performance backs them %100. Zocchi tried making their stuff only look sexy and everyone realized what shit they were pretty quick (talkin like the 08 years). They have since figured out that performance is important too and I believe they have done a pretty good job with the newer stuff since then.

Plus, I can't argue with the fact that it does look ugly. I thought the same about double barrel until I found out how damn awesome they are! Now ugly is sexy! (Think Subaru WRX... sexy f*cking car but take a step back and have a look... wtf are you driving man?!)

Haha, long ass post... I'll shut my trap.
  • 3 0
 haha! but ur right! god damm the wrx ist fugly!!! but i love it!! and for me its one of the coolest cars in the world! even tho its as ugly as burned to death street dog...the performance, name, history behind the cars makes it as slim and glamorous as a 21st cetury model)) well..ok..maybe not thaaaat pretty, but buyable!))) hehe))
  • 4 5
 fuck ugly... dhx air looks amazin and its a fox so its good
  • 4 1
 Sorry....DHX Air's aren't that great...especially for big bikes. Lots of stiction and poor valving....

I'm a much bigger fan of the Evolver ISX-6...more adjustments, feels much better w/ less stiction & much better price.
  • 2 0
 Looks fricken awful! It had better ride fast to make me put that on my bike...
  • 1 1
 It's a prototype, i think right now there goin for fucntion rather than looks, they'll come once the basics are dialed in. I love my vivid 5.1, new would go to anything else.
  • 3 0
 I like the look....it also looks extremely functional.
I can't really see anywhere where I could complain asthetically...maybe some more colour on the body? I like the simplistic design though.
Also remember Black goes with all colour schemes....blue grey and black doesnt.
  • 2 0
 STi's look sick!!
  • 3 0
 greg won SA world on that shock. the performance must be there.
  • 3 0
 who gives a f*ck if its ugly?? if it gets the job done it gets he job done. you need to quit worrying about whether or not your bike looks "pretty" and just ride
  • 1 0
 agreed!!!!!!!^ i get shit for my bike all of the time but it still goes down the mt and its still fun
  • 1 4
 hopefully the day will come where we can kiss the coil goodbye , air power all the way babbeeeee yeah...shagtastic
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