Prototype Fox Air DH Shock: Fort William World Cup 2013

Jun 7, 2013
by Mike Kazimer  
photo

Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland's race bikes were both outfitted for part of the day with a prototype air rear shock from Fox.


Prototype Fox Air DH Shock

The Santa Cruz Syndicate's Josh Bryceland and Steve Peat were both testing out a prototype air rear shock from Fox today during practice at the Fort William World Cup. The shock, installed on their carbon V10s, was unmarked, but we're willing to bet it uses some of the technology found on Fox's recently introduced Float X shock. The Float X has increased oil flow to prevent spiking at higher speeds, as well as a reservoir to prevent heat buildup, two features that would be well suited to the rigors of World Cup level downhill racing. The increased tuneability of the Float X's shim stack would also translate well to the downhill race world, with technicians able to modify the shims to suit each racer's riding style. The air can is shaped slightly differently than the Float X sleeve, possibly due to the longer eye to eye length needed for downhill bikes, or maybe a different internal setup than what we've seen before. The shock appeared to have adjustable high and low speed compression damping via two dials on the upper front portion of the shock, along with a separate rebound knob.

Prototype Fox air shock

The unmarked shock looks to have externally adjustable high and low speed compression damping along with rebound and air pressure.


Fox's suspension engineer, Bryan Anderson, was reluctant to reveal any details, but he did say that the shock has been in development for the past year. This weekend will be the first chance that Bryceland and Peat have had to try the shock - they'll be able to decide which one they prefer for race day. Anderson stressed that there was no pressure on the riders to run the air shock - it's merely an option for them to test out.

Today was a practice day, with the riders working on figuring out the fastest lines and tuning their bikes to best suit the course. Fort William is an ideal testing ground for equipment, as the race course is long and unforgiving, with numerous high speed rock gardens and jumps. If equipment can survive here it should be able to take on the rest of the stops on the World Cup circuit. Josh Bryceland took four laps, three aboard his usual coil spring set up and one aboard the air shock. When asked about how the shock felt he said, "It feels fu**ing good. I love that shock." Tomorrow the riders have more practice and seeding runs, and Bryceland said if the shock still feels good after taking race pace, top to bottom runs he'll be using it for his race run on Sunday.

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech First Looks


Author Info:
mikekazimer avatar

Member since Feb 1, 2009
1,726 articles
Report
Must Read This Week
Thank You For Everything, Pinkbike
75230 views
Pole Bicycles Has Filed for Bankruptcy
50525 views
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
41856 views
First Ride: The Sub-$600 RockShox Domain and Psylo Forks
41095 views
Staff Ride: Matt Beer's NZ MTB Rally-Spec Ibis HD6
39957 views
Tree Root Pierces Harriet Harnden's Foot at Round 1 of the British National Downhill Series
37523 views
Review: Race Face's Era Chainring Uses Steel, Carbon, & Aluminum
27504 views
Industry Digest: Crowd Funding 36" eBikes, Canfield Bikes' Relocation, Recalls & More
26098 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup

117 Comments
  • 72 13
 Its funny how many people are praising fox in this article, when the last fox based article received so much hate.
  • 33 32
 I find it funny how the comments props are going all over the place one minute a comment has +3 and then jumps down to -2 in a few minutes!
  • 44 67
flag whatyousaid (Jun 7, 2013 at 11:36) (Below Threshold)
 Fox's so called crappy shocks/forks are still better than the rest at their best
  • 77 25
 boxxers and 888s are just as good all around. and you dont have to service them like every week
  • 39 14
 "Fox's so called crappy shocks/forks are still better than the rest at their best" - Ever tried Rock Shox or something else?
  • 14 40
flag cthorpe (Jun 7, 2013 at 12:57) (Below Threshold)
 This is why i will never buy a fox fork.
  • 18 6
 Personally I've not had good luck with Rock Shox, had a fork that kept blowing up on me after getting professionaly serviced. I am a huge fan of SRAM though!! I've just never had an issue with a Fox product.
  • 17 5
 Tbh, i've allways loved fox, i had a float 32, didn't service it for a year, it worked perfectly, with many DH runs in bike parks. I bought a Boxxer R2C2, for sure its really nice, but u just cant compare it to the fox in terms of plushness.
  • 52 2
 If you have to service a fox fork every week you are doing something wrong.
  • 61 2
 Every time there is an article about a Fox component, I tell myself "don't even bother reading the comments." Then I do, and I get pissed. Then I go ride my Fox equipped bike, and I feel better again.
  • 9 2
 Fox's current problems don't mean that there aren't any good products in the line... They're just not as prevalent as they used to be, and NO, they're not "better then the rest at their best" Pull your head out kid.

I'm just glad to see that Fox hasn't completely abandoned the idea of us riders being able to adjust our suspensions. As it is, the 36 and coil shocks are the only thing worth looking at in the 2013 line up. Someone should be shot for putting CTD on the new Float X (or just for CTD in general) and for making the new 36 650B IN-compatible.

As long as they fix all the problems with the DHsux Air then this might be a good shock.
  • 10 3
 The boxxer race I used to have worked right for about 2 weeks. After that it never worked right again no matter what i did. Just kept breaking.
  • 12 21
flag rumblefish255 (Jun 7, 2013 at 14:39) (Below Threshold)
 Rock Shox is great if you like your internals to be made of plasticSmile
  • 18 13
 im guessing uve never taken apart a boxxer then. there is no plastic
  • 14 0
 There is plastic in Rockshox Boxxers, in the damper leg specifically but I have no idea what the problem is with plastic. Aluminium is heavier and has several problems associated with it. Amusing that the land of leaf spring suspension is down on a company applying the correct material for the engineering application. What do you think carbon fibre is if not a plastic?
  • 4 3
 Plastic has advantages too, weight, corrosion resistance, cheaper. Plastic parts used in design are for the riders advantage, if there isn't a suitable advantage, any engineer knows this, that's why they use them in there designs. People think how many hours have been put into these high end parts just to give you the best product possible
  • 7 1
 I'm sitting here with a broken piece of plastic from my boxxers slow speed rebound internals in my hand... There is definitely plastic inside. Quick trip to avalanches website and that problem was fixed fast tho haha
  • 14 3
 Why don't you people who hate fox' just learn to service your fork a bit and then you'll have the best fork and be able to service it..
  • 4 1
 Amen!
  • 4 2
 although the weight isnt as light as it is on fox, I have never had any complaints or trouble with manitou suspension
  • 23 2
 Gosh what a bunch of hacks on this website. Everybody is an expert because they rebuilt their forks once or twice, or had something blow up on them. Bet not a single person on here knows a bike engineer, suspension designer, or how ideas turn into products that you can buy. No idea on the engineering properties of different plastics. No clue how their factory floors are laid out, where components are sourced, or the total years of higher education that went into the design of a product. Its plastic, therefore it sucks. It needs service, so it sucks. One fork company is better than the other, which sucks. Could people grow up a little? No?
  • 10 2
 MZ 888 - "Service? What is that? I need that to work well?"
  • 8 3
 T-roz98 I actually have seen the insides of Marzochi, Rock Shox (including countless boxxers), Manitou, Elka, Fox, and a little of the new DVO stuff. Im a suspension tech at a shop and have been for 4 years and know every brand inside out. I have built Boxxers from the ground up cuz rock shox no longer makes parts for it and the reason that its broken is cuz its PLASTIC. I have also built custom fox forks from the ground up also, and its easy and simple to get parts and the only reason i need them is to improve the fork to acomodate a certain rider. Oh and to throw a little statistics in here for the heck of it i just looked up my records from the last 2 years and according to my records I see about 10 broken Rock Shox shocks and or forks broken to every 2 fox shocks and or forks that i have problems with. so there ya have it. and i do agree that plastic has advantages in certain parts of your fork but there are certain parts that should NOT be plastic.
  • 10 23
flag kavirengel (Jun 7, 2013 at 18:29) (Below Threshold)
 Fuck SRAM and Rockshocks and Avid and all their shit.
  • 11 0
 Could that 10-2 statistic be because RockShox are more popular Rumblefish?
Well by popular I mean 'cheaper', which means more people buy them so therefore more people need to get them serviced more often… :p
  • 7 2
 getting neg propped for wanting something self serviceable... Hilarious. For many riders they may go a season before frying oil. And for some of us who average 5 days a week for 6 months straight on trails that aren't buffed. It just dont work. I'll send my RC4 in for service, be out for two weeks while I wait. Once it does come back its beautiful...for about 3 weeks. Then the oil is fried and dampening goes to shit. I put up with it for now. Next purchase is a new rear shock. I couldn't even consider running a sealed cartridge fork. Unless the oil can be changed in my garage.

As for quality of forks. Watching my buddies Boxxer WC solo air, one of the most expensive main stream forks out there, go to shit in 3 months wasn't very reassuring of what RS is doing. They cant even guarantee their lowers will be straight. Go look at any boxxer and I bet you 8 out of 10 will have the wheel off center or cockeyed. Its even mentioned in their black box program that the pros get lowers that are re-machined to "improve alignment". Weak.
  • 7 1
 That would be a good point however i service (as far as just regular maintenance such as oil and seals) approximately 10 fox forks a week and about 3 fox shocks a week compared to about 1 rock shox fork a week and an occasional shock. I looked up as far as actual manufacturer defects not regular maintenance for that statistic. most of those fox problems with fox ive seen was the early CTD dampers that Fox had problems with. Which is just a manufacturing mistake which happens to any company, no company is perfect. But Fox knew it accepted it and handled it as good as they can considering the situation. Fox just sent me a good number of those dampers to have in stock for when they do go out so i have them on hand and ready to go. For the shop I work at if you come to me with a problem with your fox My average turnaround time is about 2 days due to the fact i can keep alot of their spare parts such as adjustment knobs dampers air chamber caps tallas service kits and other spare parts work on multiple forks. unlike Rock Shox where a good number of their stuff i proprietary to certain fork models and i cant stock much spare parts due to the fact that my chances of actually having the right part is slim to none. Sorry if I came of at first as just some dude that was bagging on another brand just cuz I wana bag on them. I am simply speaking from my years of experience and records. both companies make quality stuff but I do have to say i like Fox better.

Cheers Smile
  • 3 0
 @rumble props for a constructive comment
  • 2 1
 Rockurshoxoff95 we dont hate fox. and rochshox marzo dorado are all as good or better than fox. I would ride fox 40 but they are way too much money, you need to service them alot and they are heavy. for xc i ride fox because they preform better than some other ones. the middle suspension that fox has is the top of line.
  • 2 0
 @twozerosix I know a framebuilder, has been in the industry god knows how long, He has ridden every suspension known to man extensively. His views are RS are shite, Fox are good, Manitou are good, Marz are good, DVO are alright, Elka are shite, Suntour are alright. He hates RS because he could barely go a season without having to replace seals less than 4 times. this could be due to english riding conditions and his hectic riding or just the fact that RS use shit seals. He borrowed my 09 40's to replace his 12 Boxxers while I was on holiday to test this and he only changed the seals once in the shittest conditions. That is why I buy Fox suspension. If I ever get another DH I'm gonna try some Dorado's or DVO.
  • 1 0
 I personally run a full rock shox set up. Boxxer wc in the front and a vivid 5.1 in the rear and I love both. Wasn't a huge fan of the rc2 air shock I had before though. I don't have much experience with fox except for running one of their rear shocks. But the one I had I was pleased with.
  • 1 0
 My take on the big two companies (without slinging too much sh*t) is that Rock Shox is now part of SRAM, which is a very large company that manufactures most of their products outside of the USA, while Fox is a suspension company that does most of their final assembly and a lot of component manufacturing in Northern California (Watsonville and now Scotts Valley). I toured the Fox facility a long time ago - maybe ten years - and it was a clean, bustling, inspiring hub of manufacturing. On the other hand, aside from a very few global companies (Apple for example) its very hard to maintain quality when building overseas. Its NOT the same as saying the design is poor; its a matter of production volumes and QA oversight. Both fork companies have very good engineering talent, and marketing/cs people in the field who accumulate feedback from the real world. But in my experience both as a consumer and designer of products, I've found, if you want the best product, get it from the specialists.

I was super proud of my RS Mag21 SL's back in 1994 though.
  • 1 0
 @t-roz98 you obviously have not a clue as to what you're talking about. Boxxer world cup WAS the lightest fork on the market, fox was the second lightest (coil sprung) only heavier by grams. The RAD fox is out now and it weighs a whole pound and a bit lighter than the coil fox which means it beats the boxxer world cup is weight. Fox has been in the suspension game for so long it's a wonder why people think their suspension is bad ??? Dorado's are good until you start having little issues with them, and once u have issues, the company is a pain in the ass to deal with. Marzo is BOMB PROOF anf they have stepped up their game in performance recently so I'd take fox over everything or else in second i'd take a marzo. Alot of my friends have boxxer and have alot of issues with them. Seals on boxxers also start to leak alot sooner than a fox. You just need to learn basic servicing on a fox and then you have nothing to complain about.
  • 37 2
 i want to jump on the air shock band wagon Smile
  • 29 3
 It's all about those air spring curves and spring rates. Lets be honest. Most of the pinkbike community doesn't know how or why shocks work. Or what all these terms mean. If it feels good on the trail. Well buy it
  • 9 3
 I think he was kidding Wink ....besides that valve located on the body, this shocks looks pretty much the same as my 2006 DHX 5.0...and god knows it was a pos of the highest level !!!...I'm sorry but I just can see what kind of insanity would push me to get another one, Kashima or not !!!...
  • 9 3
 You do realise that it is 2013 now right? i'm pretty sure they would have updated something from a 06 DHX to whatever this is going to be called.
  • 8 6
 thanks, I did not realise what year it was ?!?...it was still a piece of crap in 2012, so what's so great this year that it will blow the socks off their previous air shocks ???...
  • 4 1
 Did you actually own it in 2012?
  • 3 0
 Rock Shox Vivid Air RC4
  • 3 0
 DHX air shock was/is crap. This is a RC3 air shock with shim stack valving. This shock will work great! So does the Roco air and the Cane Creek(Ohlins) air. A robust ,tunable shim stack air shock is exactly what Fox needs to keep up with the competition.
  • 1 0
 The X-Fusion HLR Air is another amazing contender. I rode on on an Aurum yesterday and it was AWESOME. Every click of the adjusters makes a noticeable difference and the shock felt great all day long. That they cost so little is icing on the cake. CCDBA and Vivid's are amazing (probably the best DH Air shocks) as well, but I'm pretty stunned that an air can that works so well on AM bikes can translate so well to a DH rig and that it have such amazing adjustment. FOX could learn something from X-Fusion in that department.
  • 20 0
 Snore, for what the past 7 years they'll show air shocks on pro bikes in the pits and the first day of practice. Then after that we never see it again until next season.
  • 9 0
 the only thing that matters is if the riders trust them enough to have them bolted on when it counts - stay tuned!
  • 15 6
 I may be speaking too soon, but glad to see all the Internet trolls took the day off on this one. Nothing worse that a bunch of angy kids who can't afford high end parts complaining about them as if anyone who can afford them gives a flying f### about their uneducated opinion. Keep up the r and d Fox!
  • 8 1
 It's pinkbike man. You know we have the most trolls here. This is pretty much troll central. Seriously, if you go to the server where the website is hosted, it's under a bridge, several in fact.
  • 3 0
 The thing with Fox is that their products are very race oriented, wich means that they will perform better than superb when serviced and set up properly. The sad thing is that i've seen so many fox forks with destroyed stanchions were the rider just didn't give a F about servicing the fork. Ridden both fox and rock shox, ride wise i like them both in their own way... but when picking up a fox product you can actually feel the stunning build quality, everything from the paint and anodizing to the machining of the dials is top notch.
  • 4 0
 About a year after I had switched to a 40 from a Boxxer Race, My friend let me try his bike with a Boxxer WC freshly rebuilt and it felt like a total POS. I hardly service my 40 and its never done any wrong to me, still feels as good as when I bought it. I'm hooked on Fox now.
  • 17 15
 Looks really nice. I love it how fox has stepped it up big time in the last few years, creating the RAD 40 thats a pound lighter and now created a prototype air rear shock that will be about a pound lighter than the coil. Keep up the great work Fox!
  • 16 16
 Ya fox is killing it out there! the shock looks great! hopefully they will make one big enough to fit the wilson tup
  • 13 34
flag arapp14 (Jun 7, 2013 at 10:53) (Below Threshold)
 Stepped it up big time? Or the engineers spent time on the internet on other suspension companies articles and saving all the notes. A few years later they decide to break out those notes and incorporate Manitou into the 40. Then slap on some "Kashima seamless coating" and bam, the hottest fork on the market. I'm curious to try it, but rockshox all the way, they've got big things coming.
  • 12 3
 40 Float*
  • 13 9
 Comment section is boring without waki. Hurry up man.
  • 3 3
 It's about time Fox! Too early to tell obviously but it looks like they may have nailed it with this new one...
  • 7 3
 your so right the Fox Float 40 is the hottest fork in the market right now.. i have Boxxer wc and Fox 40 and what i can say is Fox FTW!!! and like a said before ,Rock Shock is going to get they're butt kick this year
  • 2 1
 thekayo, if it fits a V10 it will fit a Wilson, they both have 10.5 eye to eye with 3.75 of stroke
  • 6 4
 Stepped it up? More like catching up... Rock Shox WC and Vivid Air ring any bells?
  • 4 1
 Nevermind I lied, i was thinking of the old V10's move on with your internet surfing people
  • 1 0
 10.5x3.5 btw. And the old V10 used an 8.75x2.75 shock. I'm curios to see how these new forks and shocks ride compared to my BOS set up, I want to know what's really best
  • 8 3
 Soo excited - keep it up Fox!
  • 10 5
 Looks really clean compared to a Vivid Air IMO.
  • 3 0
 I love the 4 or 5 extra enve wheels just sitting around in the background... man to be sponsored Shock doesn't look bad either
  • 16 1
 one might even say you envy them...
  • 4 1
 The us gov has known about this shock for some time.
Every form of communication(data) is stored via PRISM.
Its for your protection,..cant b havn unsafe shocks out there. Lol
  • 7 1
 Verizon guy - Can you hear me now?
Obama - Yup, we heard every word.
  • 2 1
 Hilarious!
  • 2 0
 Hilarious... but fuckin terrifying all at the same time.
  • 1 0
 I love my fox sus! Admittedly I don't understand the nuances of suspension tech but I'm trying. I'll never ride pro and don't give a rats ass about shaving seconds of ride time. I do care about getting a good product and a company that seeks progress. Air suspension is getting very interesting. I won't give up my coils yet but I'm listening.
  • 4 0
 A lot of new stuff lately.... Awesome!
  • 6 2
 I got a fever... and the only prescription... is more Fox 40s !
  • 13 0
 And cow bell
  • 10 1
 that is one expensive fever...
  • 1 0
 I wear gold diapers
  • 2 0
 I'm not a fan of FOX forks, but I like the simplicity of their set and forget shocks! Please let this be a good one! I'm ready to throw money your way!!
  • 2 0
 180 float blows the competition out of the water in my opinion.... But it would be boring if everyone ran/liked the same shit
  • 1 1
 I don't think you can beat the peformace of fox suspension. The only thing is I suffered creaking crowns and blown rebound cartridges on my 36's even though I had them regularly serviced. I swapped to rockshox and have never had a days trouble. Suspension performance is not as good but I would rather have the reliability
  • 5 2
 Is this news to make up for the recent criticism?
  • 3 0
 Looks quite a bit like a xfusion vector air
  • 1 0
 Damn, I was hoping you'd say a session
  • 2 0
 Is the shaft diameter really tiny or does it just look that way because it's on a big bike?
  • 3 0
 Fox recently reduced the shaft diameter of the RC4 for the reduced friction benefit, which, lets face it, PLAGUES air shocks, so makes sense.
  • 1 0
 why is that not the case on the ccdb air?
  • 9 0
 It was probably just in the swimming pool.
  • 1 0
 big can=less air pressure, small can=high air pressure
  • 4 1
 that bike must way like 11kg
  • 6 1
 no, its 33pounds
  • 2 2
 14.967kg, almost!
  • 2 0
 -.-
  • 3 0
 Wonder if Ratboy is running the 40 Float as well?
  • 3 0
 That's his bike in the stand I think, green grips are what make me think this. The fork has that new "M" shape in between the stanchions so I'm assuming thats the FLOAT.
  • 3 0
 all i can say is... hmmm
  • 3 1
 looks similar like x-fusions Vector HLR Air
  • 4 0
 LOL, shocking news that a shock looks like a shock !
  • 2 0
 I was hoping he'd say a session
  • 2 0
 where can we watch this satdy and sunday in the uk, it better be on tv.
  • 1 0
 Redbull.tv android/iphone app or computer. Starts 15:45 I think!
  • 5 2
 that looks sick!
  • 4 1
 Sexy!
  • 8 6
 Air shocks for DH bikes? Next big thing... 15 mm Maxle lite on DH forks
  • 1 0
 First race of the season, and Shimano can't give him a new set of Saint Cranks?!?
  • 1 0
 Fox has the right idea on reducing the shock shaft diameter to reduce stiction.
  • 1 1
 Are we still talking about mtn biking?
  • 2 0
 BOS
  • 1 0
 wich shock would fit better on a giant glory 2012, fox rc4 or dhx 5.0??
  • 3 2
 will it have the infamous CTD? LOL!
  • 3 4
 Hope so works great!
  • 3 2
 And it even has kashima!!!!!!
  • 1 0
 Oh my god. Who the hell cares?
  • 1 0
 saw it.
  • 1 0
 i want it
  • 3 4
 ROCK SHOX 4 LIFE. THATS IT THATS ALL!!!
  • 5 8
 I called this one! everyone has a dedicated DH air shock. I knew it was a matter of time. I hope it doesn't suck balls like their dhx air.
  • 18 2
 good job, you should say that sunday is going to be after saturday too
  • 1 2
 Will only 1% of us e.g pro's be able to buy it?
  • 3 4
 Wannabe CCDBA
  • 3 0
 In that case you might as well call the ccdba a wannabe vivid air. It's not bandwagoning, it's a logical step for the industry
Below threshold threads are hidden







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv56 0.045707
Mobile Version of Website