Sneak Peek: Fox Prototype Air Shock
Pinkbike was riding with a prominent Fox employee recently and noticed that his shock was unlabeled and completely different looking than any trailbike shock that the pioneer suspension maker has made in recent times. As usual, we could not get detailed information about the internals, but some morsels of information did slip through. The new shock has a more rounded head, presumably to make room for air volume and different fluid circuits. Reportedly, the internals have been in development since these shocks were photographed, being tested at the 2013 DH World Championships.
The enlarged section near the base of the air can no-doubt houses a higher-volume, longer-stroke version of the in-line negative spring that Fox debuted with its original Float shock design. The advantage of a longer-travel negative spring is a smoother transition from the initial shock spring pressure into the mid-stroke. The proto shocks FOX were testing at the 2013 Worlds also had long-stroke negative spring bulges in their air cans. At least one other suspension designer is in agreement with Fox. Vorsprung Suspension recently released an aftermarket air can for Float shocks that features an upgraded negative spring.
 | The enlarged section near the base of the air can no-doubt houses a higher-volume, longer-stroke version of the in-line negative spring that Fox debuted with its original Float shock design. |
The enlarged section near the base of the air can no-doubt houses a higher-volume, longer-stroke version of the in-line negative spring that Fox debuted with its original Float shock design. The advantage of a longer-travel negative spring is a smoother transition from the initial shock spring pressure into the mid-stroke. The proto shocks FOX were testing at the 2013 Worlds also had long-stroke negative spring bulges in their air cans. At least one other suspension designer is in agreement with Fox. Vorsprung Suspension recently released an aftermarket air can for Float shocks that features an upgraded negative spring.
Fox is on the move. Reportedly, this prototype announces the beginning of a series of fundamental changes in their suspension range.
Test shocks from the Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, World Champs have the same bulge for the negative spring as the one in the Fox spy-shot. Check out the hand-printed names.
The Fox proto on the left, compared with the current Float shock shows just how much the two differ in appearance. The small bump near the lower end of the Float's air can marks the end of its negative spring's effective stroke and where the air bypasses the internal piston to equalize the static pressure of the negative and positive springs.
The negative spring balances an air spring's static pressure, causing the initial spring rate to start very low, similar to a coil-type spring. The longer the stroke of the negative spring, the smoother the handoff becomes as the pressure falls off of to zero on the negative side and the suspension is completely supported by the main "positive side" of the air can. This is the purpose of the long-stroke coil-type negative spring that Fox developed for the air-sprung RAD 40 DH fork
Hints were made that the future direction of Fox's fork and shock development will include internal trickery that first appeared on the 2015 36 fork - which suggests that the compression circuits of future Float shocks will have a much more seamless feel between their small and large bump performance.
Hints were made that the future direction of Fox's fork and shock development will include internal trickery that first appeared on the 2015 36 fork - which suggests that the compression circuits of future Float shocks will have a much more seamless feel between their small and large bump performance.
Smart minds think alike. Vorsprung's aftermarket Corset air can on a Fox Float-X shock.
Of course, much of the above is speculation, but a parking lot evaluation revealed that Fox's Float prototype was, as reviewers so often remark, "buttery smooth." Traditionally, Fox springs new technology at the Sea Otter Classic, so we'll keep the lens caps off of our cameras and be ready to shoot the pre-production versions if the opportunity presents itself.
MENTIONS: @foxracingshox, @VorsprungSuspension
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The most important thing for Varsprung will be to see if they have a substantially better design than the Fox design. If so, they will capture the market for after market optimized cans for legacy shocks with unoptimized cans and maybe even have a market for customers looking to get better optimized cans for their shocks already equipped with stock optimized cans. But if the diff is negligible, then Varsprung sprung won't have long term sustainability.
I agree with you. Really strange timing. It seems like vorsprung steal the exclusivity of what was gonna be a novelty of the year for Fox and Pinkbike post in urge some old and some already leaked pictures in order to recall that fox will produce this kind of parts too.
There is nothing really new in this "News". It looks more like a reminder that fox has this technology too.
But I will be curious to know the rational behind these quickly following releases.
Maybe Fox pressured pinkbike in a way or another to cancel the Vorsprung effect, because this is not an official press release from Fox, and I don't think that Fox will precipitate their official release timing because of that.
I agree..... this has the whiff of cronyism. At least PB name-checked Vorsprung in the article though. It will be interesting to know if there's a patent issue here. I wonder if Vorsprung have patented their product? Not sure where that would land Fox.
Although I could be wrong as I am basing my theory on the info of which RC provided above - that is I don't see much difference in what the Vorsprung does vs. the prototype Fox.
Pioneer….is that why my float feels like a leaf spring?
@Legalaze something is wrong with your shock then. The CTD lever on my bike makes a dramatic deferent, trail is very firm and climb is pretty much solid. If it feels good though i guess it doesn't matter lol.
Boom, done.
COOL STORY GUYS.
Quick! Paint it all flat black and no decals!!! Otherwise, people might figure out that it looks exactly like every other rear bicycle air shock that has ever been made since the beginning of time
The market of bikers who would spend money on, or care about, these improved air cans is probably reading pinkbike. The percentage of people who know about these cans, and who would like to buy one, and who do NOT work in a bike shop (not paying retail), is crazy low. I'm just imagining my bike shop stocking a few $150 air cans... It's not that big of a deal to 99% of bikers. Sorry. There's too much else to worry about.
That's not to say I wouldn't love to see these new air cans coming OEM on bikes that need them!!!! It's cool to think that any bike can be made to feel supple and smooth....
We often forget as avid/devoted riders that many a rider does not care what the small specifics in suspension, let alone gears, tires etc do to make a difference in riding. Most are either focused on; does it look shiny and cool? or, will it survive a season of hucks, drops and torture that I put it through.
Have a sid dual air and monarch rct3 on my 100mm bike. Love that setup.
Had a float 32 rl and float rp2 fox shock on my 100mm bike before that and it was crap. Couldnt get more than 70% travel unless it was undersprung.
Have a 160mm float 34 on my trance and a ctd evo shock. The fork is much better than the float 32 and I've got it dialed. I actually like this fork a lot. The shock isn't terrible. It seems better than my older one but it's usable and i don't feel like it holds me back.
I'd be interested in an air can at the $100 mark, but more than that i don't think it is worth spending the money
Does that mean it was all crap before? Or why would you have to make "fundamental changes"? Seriously, do it once, but do it right.
photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4177/1071/1600/IMG_4025.jpg
looks the same as their normal float shocks but with a corset on.
would be interesting to know how recent but the meta data has been stripped from the photos so we don't know if the picture was quickly taken due to Vorsprung Suspension press release
enduro-mtb.com/en/on-location-fox-rad-testing-a-view-of-the-future
I noticed that the slightly falling rate in the first 30% of travel do not match very well with the Debonair in my Spectral - an issue that is more apparent, the heavier the rider is. With ~200lbs I easily top out the recommended maximum pressure of 350psi on the shock, when I want to ride with less than 25% sag.
I think there are many suspension designs, that will have similar problems with a negative air spring of the size of the Debonair or the new FOX prototype.
Leverage ratios should change between a medium and XL bike to account for the heavier rider weight as spring rate alone isn't sufficient.
Also leverage rate should be linear/falling (falling is actually progressive on a correct rate graph where the X axis is the vertical wheel travel and the Y axis is the instantaneous ratio) as this produces predictable feel and suspension tuning. This is the problem with your Spectral (otherwise a great bike) and many other designs.
Like that was accident lol, you/Fox must think we zip up at the back.