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Magnetic suspension

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Magnetic suspension

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flag conwan13mtb
Posted: Dec 6, 2025 at 16:11 Quote
Would it be possible to put magnets in the top and bottom of the fork and shocks?
flag conwan13mtb
Posted: Dec 6, 2025 at 16:13 Quote
I know Canyon has that concept bike the Orbiter but why didn't they go through with it
flag BrickShews
Posted: Dec 6, 2025 at 17:45 Quote
I would bet its possible. But a few things come to mind.

One method of demagnetizing something is by smacking it firmly with something hard. So bottoming a magnet fork out would weaken its strength every impact. Greatly if I. Not mistaken. I bet one good bottom outbound essentially "blow them out".

2. There is a lot of iron in many soil types. Magnetic shocks likely collect the small particles od ferrous rocks on trails.
flag conwan13mtb
Posted: Dec 7, 2025 at 8:25 Quote
What if you just put electromagnetic magnets in it and you can turn them off and on. Im not sure if its how it works but you can get a more powerful switch for different weights
flag conwan13mtb
Posted: Dec 7, 2025 at 8:28 Quote
And instead of them hitting each other there's a ring around the magnets that extend out a little from the top of the magnet so when they hit they have 3mm of space where they don't contact
flag BenLow2019
Posted: Dec 8, 2025 at 7:37 Quote
Certainly you watched this recent video featured by PB?
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-reimagining-bike-suspension-with-magnets.html

His solution is terrible, but you get to see some of the challenges, not the least of which is how big and heavy the magnets must be to provide the force required by the suspension component.
flag conwan13mtb
Posted: Dec 8, 2025 at 8:07 Quote
I have but couldn't you use a fork design like the fox podium and make the lower part a magnet and for the shock make the stantion a magnet and im not sure about the other magnets though
flag BenLow2019
Posted: Dec 8, 2025 at 8:21 Quote
conwan13mtb wrote:
I have but couldn't you use a fork design like the fox podium and make the lower part a magnet and for the shock make the stantion a magnet and im not sure about the other magnets though

Sure, but each suspension component would require at least two magnets to oppose to each other. While they are in opposition to each other they are also attracting any nearby iron things (dirt, keys, etc.) and possibly destroying nearby electronics. All not good.
Finally, trying to manage the forces to do something as simple as setting the sag would be very difficult. In a standard shock you can swap the spring or change the air pressure. In a magnet - how do you change its field strength? With a natural magnet you can't. With an electro-magnet you have to change the amperage applied to the windings - that implies you're carrying a hefty power source for your neat magnetic shock system. Not ideal.
flag bishopsmike
O+
Posted: Dec 8, 2025 at 8:33 Quote
Question of whether you COULD vs whether you SHOULD.

Air is free, weighs nothing, free + easy to replace, add more/less, ramps up very nicely to help with bottom-out, etc. About the only bad thing with air springs is keeping it where it's supposed to be (seals and associated stiction).

Coil springs have no stiction no worries about keeping the spring in place, they are relatively light (compared to freakin magnets!), fairly cheap, and fairly easy to swap to a different spring rate. Coils have some other problems where they might not ramp up the way bikers want, and it can be tough to find exactly the spring rate you want.

Magnets have no stiction and probably easy enough to fine-tune to get exactly the spring rate you want. However, they are super heavy, bulky, very expensive, relatively dangerous, and don't ramp up enough for bikers.

So not exactly sure what magnets would bring to the table.

On top of all of this, you very much need to add dampers (hydraulic or something) to control the pogo feel and actually make the suspension feel nice.
flag trailnomad19
O+
Posted: Dec 8, 2025 at 13:42 Quote
Bro nah, magnets ain’t replacing your fork or shock

You’d basically end up with a pogo stick. Magnets can’t give you proper damping, rebound control, or support under load. MTB suspension needs controlled oil flow, not “north vs south vibes.”

Cool idea, zero real-world performance.
flag conwan13mtb
Posted: Dec 9, 2025 at 11:30 Quote
Ok just wondering if it was possible thank you
tup
flag acedeuce802
Posted: Dec 10, 2025 at 6:59 Quote
Magnets are super progressive. Ignoring the weight and size of magnets to get the required force, maybe they'd work okay for a bottom out bumper, but hydraulic bottom out would be significantly better. Magnets progressive nature would not work well for a main spring.
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