BREW Nitro Shox - Sea Otter 2016
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BREW Nitro Shox
We first showed you BREW's interesting Nitro Shox at last year's Eurobike tradeshow, and since then the UK company has been working away to get the shock ready for production. That includes some internal fine-tuning, a change from the anodized blue shock body shown here to a black finish that won't stand out as much, and some added adjustments. BREW is aiming to launch the production version this coming September, sometime after the Interbike tradeshow, and they told me that pricing should be similar to high-end offerings from established brands.
We first showed you BREW's interesting Nitro Shox at last year's Eurobike tradeshow, and since then the UK company has been working away to get the shock ready for production. That includes some internal fine-tuning, a change from the anodized blue shock body shown here to a black finish that won't stand out as much, and some added adjustments. BREW is aiming to launch the production version this coming September, sometime after the Interbike tradeshow, and they told me that pricing should be similar to high-end offerings from established brands.
Nitro Shox Details:
• Intended use: all-mountain / enduro / DH
• Oleo damper design
• Nitrogen spring
• Three spring rates from factory
• Adjustment dial to tune spring rate
• Adjustable rebound and compression
• Weight: TBA
• Availability: September
• MSRP: TBA
• Intended use: all-mountain / enduro / DH
• Oleo damper design
• Nitrogen spring
• Three spring rates from factory
• Adjustment dial to tune spring rate
• Adjustable rebound and compression
• Weight: TBA
• Availability: September
• MSRP: TBA
What's Different?
The Nitro Shox's oleo damper is relatively simple compared to a run of the mill mountain bike shock. To start with, there's a nitrogen pressurized chamber that's separated from the damping oil by a piston that we'd usually refer to as an IFP (internal floating piston). This nitrogen charge acts as the spring, whereas the pressurized chamber on the opposite side of the IFP is used to provide back-pressure and room for oil displacement within a traditional shock.
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When the BREW shock is compressed, the damping oil pushes on the IFP and the nitrogen charge is compressed - this gives you your spring rate. On the opposite end of the shock is a tapered metering pin that aligns with a bleed hole on the metering / damping orifice, and this is what determines the amount of pressure that's applied to the IFP and the nitrogen charge. This means that it's able to supply as much spring force as required when there's a massive impact, but then also bleed off that pressure as needed. In short, it provides both a non-linear spring rate and non-linear damping force that allows it to react in a way that a standard shock would never be able to, and, according to BREW's Joe Hunter, in a way that gives the rider more control.
BREW actually sets the shock's nitrogen pressure, which they say is a bit higher than the pressure used in the latest high-volume air shocks, at the factory before shipping the shock out to the customer. This means that, for the most part, the shock's spring rate is set because this nitrogen charge is your spring.
Some adjustment is built-in via a rotary dial that will be on the production shock's piggyback, the turning of which will move nitrogen either in or out from the piggyback into the main chamber. It's clear that one of BREW's main challenges will be convincing riders that they don't need to adjust anything on the Nitro Shox, which won't be an easy task given that the more-is-better attitude is prevalent when it comes to suspension adjustments.
Some adjustment is built-in via a rotary dial that will be on the production shock's piggyback, the turning of which will move nitrogen either in or out from the piggyback into the main chamber. It's clear that one of BREW's main challenges will be convincing riders that they don't need to adjust anything on the Nitro Shox, which won't be an easy task given that the more-is-better attitude is prevalent when it comes to suspension adjustments.
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Hunter says that because the damper is velocity dependent, it's able to match the forces put into the shock and self-adjust, meaning that riders shouldn't have to turn any dials. In fact, they had originally considered offering a shock with basically zero damper and spring adjustment but have since softened that stance. The production shock will now sport two dials, one to adjust rebound and the other compression, that will allow for some manual tuning on top of the shock's self-adjusting nature.
I'll be spending a few days on BREW's Nitro Shox while in the Whistler Bike Park when they bring over a production sample this coming September, so stay tuned for ride impressions.
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I always wanted to like crank bros, but they're kinda the Apple of the mtb accessory world. Their multitools are bomb though
it's much further ahead now. The graphics are bangin!
It would be super funny to see the public reaction if this a) turns out to be a total revolution in suspension and b) stays looking as shitty as it does now. I'd love to see the amount of people torn between being fast and having a cool looking bike.
nitro taking a lesson from X-Fusion and their Revel X!
BTW Tandy used to be the store brand computer sold at radioshack, and were absolutely horrible.
crankbrothers is highly compatible with every bike on the market, and offers better than stock features.
Personaly I find the Revel fork even more interesting then this shock..
The Revel fork is never coming out. XFU brought it to trade shows for like 3 or 4 years, hyping the product and then never released it. It's vaporware.
www.mtb-news.de/news/2016/01/15/test-intend-sc166-upside-down-federgabel
I am so stoked that they are making these for mtb. I have been trying to get hold of one of these shocks since the millyard dh bike came out.
that thing felt like a 200mm travel bike even though it only was running 140mm.
This is one of those things where people are prone to being like "oh it works well in other completely different applications, it'll work great here too". Planes aren't bikes. Tanks aren't bikes. Elevator safety systems (what oleo dampers are widely used for), quite clearly aren't bikes. Reserve judgment til you ride it, sure, but this is definitely something worthy of skepticism.
You lost me there
I am definitely keeping an eye out for this.
www.pinkbike.com/news/allen-millyard-part-1-2008.html
www.pinkbike.com/news/Millyard-racing-bike-2007.html
So, i´m not one to believe anything bike journalists say, as most times they just repeat some marketing scheme or are deep in the industries pockets, but in this case there´s literally nothing that would point to the assumption the reviews can not be trusted. Ok, maybe the fact Steve Jones likes to hype all things made in Britain
Especially for the MTB World Cup, where winning is EVERYTHING for a brand?
True that.
However i think there´s also another reason, namely the development cost. That demo unit they had to test may have put out incredible data, but that was on a testing machine and a test bike with lots of work involved to set up the shock. Like the things allready stated in the article, Nitro still is working on adjustability and setting of different "spring"-weights. In todays mtb-suspension market adjustability is king, period. So even if this rides better, people most likely would not buy it as entusiastic as they buy shocks with 4way adjustments.
They most likely would have to figure out a way to make the concept attractive to 90% of their customer base in order to not piss of any customers, too.
Like, say if you can make it work in a downhill application, but there´s no way to fit a lockout or uphill switch of some sorts, enderpo riders will be pissed they do not get the best tech. As a business you need to make sure the lower end customers or those who require things for different applications also get their share of the new tech you develop, otherwise they will feel left out and loose brand loyalty.
I guess that would be a hard thing to accomplish with this design without massive R&D.
Nonetheless, this looks like a possible game changer if the adjustability requirements can be implemented in a way so consumers can utilize it to maximum efficiency without the need for a personal mechanic.
I´m certainly looking forward to the production unit and how it´ll do on a standard frame.
Totally true. The industry is doing just as you said.
What i was getting at with the technological and development side, is just that tech as "simple" (i can´t judge that, i´m no engineer) as this is sometimes harder to adapt due to exactly that simplicity. Just like Nitro apparently had trouble fitting acceptable external tuning options which are something that may even be detrimental to the core principle and benefits the shock offers, yet the market demands. So sometimes it´s easier to stick to the flamboyant option that offers less performance but can be sold easier without as much R&D needed. Pretty much what you allready said. Why innovate if you can still sell old crap with fancy new stickers
To be fair, this shock won´t be one for the masses. At least in it´s early days.
Small boutique manufacturers do play by different rules than the big corporations. Take a look at the PUSH Ind Shock for example. That thing looks kinda factory style, yet that´s most likely a acharacteristic the clientel of PUSH is looking for. There are quite a few small companys which do pretty well with this "raw-engineering" approach as some customers value just that. There are other examples that even use this to their advantage to this day, like HOPE Tech.
I for one would rock that thing on my bike in a heartbeat, even though (or because of) it´s prototype looks and mismatched colours. To be honest, i´m even kinda sceptical of most small production run products that sport a perfect finish, as those scream "underengineered and overdesigned".
So i´m not saying good design is detrimental or unnecessary, but sometimes an honest and down to earth appearance can be just as valuable. It just depends on the market segment you are operating in.
I for one can appreciate the garage tinkering approach Nitro is showing us here.
However, we are talking about a prototype here. And one that hasn´t changed that much for quite some time now. I guess they haven´t even looked at possible production facilities yet, so i think the end result will most definitely look quite a bit different from what we can see here.
Any update on this Brew Shock? Was meant to get tested in Whistler last crankworx and there has been nothing on PB on it.
Just really interested, cheers
Interesting stuff either way. Can't wait to see some current videos of it in action.
heeeelloooooo
www.pinkbike.com/news/Redalp-Downhill-Bikes-2012.html
Has the development stopped/ is it ever going to hit the market?
No photo no proof
otherwise, I'm listening
Keen to keep on hearing more about it though, looks interesting for sure
Do you know what bike it will be attached to when you ride it?