Rumors had been swirling for the last year or so about the future of BOS Suspension's mountain bike division due to the prolonged period of radio silence from the French company. Were they scrapping the bike side of things to focus solely on their rally car and motorcycle suspension? There was no shortage of speculation, but according to Olivier Bossard, the company's owner, he never considered disbanding the mountain bike side; instead, he says that the pullback was done in order to allow them to regain focus and decide exactly what path they wanted to take.
BOS Deville 35 Details• 160mm travel
• Air sprung
• 35mm stanchions
• Boost spacing
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Externally adjustable rebound, low- and high-speed compression
• Adjustable negative spring volume
• Price: TBD
• Weight: TBD
www.facebook.com/BOSsuspension/
That path still involves manufacturing high-end suspension, and the new Deville 35 serves as BOS' announcement that they're back in the mountain bike world. The Deville 35 is aimed at the all-mountain / enduro crowd, with 35mm stanchions and 160mm of travel, but it's the fork's internal workings that sets it apart from its competitors.
A 27.5” version is expected to be available in May, with a 29” model scheduled to debut by the end of the year. Final pricing will be determined within the next week or so, but it's expected to be in line with other new forks hitting the market.
What's Inside?The Deville uses a mono-tube damper; rather than relying on an expanding bladder design similar to what RockShox and Fox use, BOS went with a coil sprung internal floating piston, citing that design's reliability and ability to withstand temperature changes without altering the feel of the fork.
The Deville's high and low-speed compression adjusters are now located on the top, rather than the underside, of the right leg, a welcome change from the previous version. There's also a lever that can be used to control the flow of oil through the compression needle, providing a firmer platform for climbing or smoother sections of trail.
Frequency Control ValveBOS' Frequency Control Valve (FCV) is an inertia valve that relies on a weight perched atop a spring to control the flow of oil through the damping cartridge. The spring-loaded weight remains in place when a rider pushes down on the handlebars, but when the wheel encounters a bump it moves downwards, which lets the oil flow freely, allowing the fork to soak up bigger hits. Keep in mind that in the closed position it's still easy to move the fork through its travel – this isn't an inertia valve that fully locks out the fork, and while the difference between the open and closed positions is noticeable, it's not overly drastic.
Air SpringRather than using spacers or oil to alter the volume of the positive air spring, BOS figured out a clever way to easily change the volume of the of the negative air spring. Once the air is let out of the fork, unthreading a bolt on the bottom of the fork allows the rod-shaped spacer to be removed, and then replaced with a different size (at the moment there are three options). Rather than changing the fork's bottom out resistance, swapping spacers changes the feel of the beginning part of the fork's travel. This makes it possible to choose between having an extra-soft beginning stroke for increased grip, or a firmer, more supportive feel that works better for aggressive riding.
The negative spring's air chamber volume can be changed by swapping out the spacer that resides in the Deville's lower left leg.
Ride ImpressionsI was able to get in a few hours of riding on the new Deville, riding the same loop three times in a row in order to try the three different negative spring settings. The test track was moderately steep, with several rougher straightaways that led into compressions, a good way to get an initial feel for the fork. The air pressure was set to 54 psi for my 160 lb weight, with the compression dials clicked into the middle of their range.
The Deville has a very 'open' feeling, tracking every little nuance of the trail and providing excellent traction even on slippery, off-camber sections. It's remarkably close to the sensation you'd expect from a coil-sprung fork, delivering loads of grip without diving or getting sucked into holes.
I tried a different length negative spring rod on each lap and found the difference between the three options to be very noticeable. With the shortest rod in place, which produces the largest negative spring volume, the fork's travel was extremely easy to initiate, allowing it to suck up even the smallest of obstacles, although there wasn't as much support, which made the fork feel a little
too soft for my liking. Reducing the negative spring volume provided the support I was looking for, and both the medium and long spacers felt very usable, creating an outstanding plush-yet-supportive feel.
| It'll take longer runs and rougher trails to really see how the Deville stacks up against its competitors, but its initial performance was extremely impressive – now we'll just have to see if BOS can provide a level of customer service and support to match.— Mike Kazimer |
QBP is a wholesale distributor for bike parts/accessories, so, yes. NO retail sales
IMO the only thing they have going for them is a good visual design team and a solid ability to design low-friction sliding interfaces. The damping leaves something to be desired, and the company and customer support experience were enough to make me never buy their products again.
So basically, buy BOS if you want to support the worst company ever.
But in the end.. the Deville is awesome... riding for 3 years and no problem at all...
Works like new... and the sucking sound of the full oil bath when hitting root/rock sections... love it!!
BTW I had positive experiences with the service of BOS... needed them 3 times... all was arranged quick and even out of warrantee they still helped me for free.
Anyways.. I just took the action I thought was needed... just called BOS and it all went well...
Seriously though, the reverse arch has grown on me.
And then one day, my fork was fixed (under warranty, at NO charge), and came back on my bike : WOW ! I'm so glad I waited !
Hopefully, QBP will help them fix their customer service issue ; I can't imagine riding anything else !
Not riding that bike so much... why would I wanna service it...
Calling me dumb is not really smart as an assumption...
And don't tell me a 12 year old fork is good, because you can buy any semi-decent fork from even from 2009 and it would be miles ahead in performance. Old technology from a company that was preatty terrible back then, still kind of is.
All forks, wheels, shocks and my momma will go for service right away!
Talking nonsense. The structure of the mattocs mc2 damper is superior and more solid than a charger. Besides the mattoc has along the Bos the best rebound damper on the market.
IRT is the best upgrade for air springs you can get, like chikadehill awk. Nothing like that cheap TOKEN RUBBISH other companies use. I have tested many of that systems and geberally look at the internaternals to get a picture , have you? Or do you simply have an opinion based on theory and imagination.
I just took my Fox Float shock off another bike tonight to send it in to get rebuilt for the 3rd time in 4 years. This time it's just under a year, so I sounds like they'll warranty it. They work, but I think reliability could definitely be better. I would have hoped that Marzocchi's legendary reliability would have bled over to the Fox side of things. I rode Marzocchi for years with no problems and no service and only changed fluids because I felt guilty!
Bos' new mtb web site - the old one has been discontinued. Their facebook page is also updated pretty regularly.
Hopefully the CS will improve in the time to come, to match their product which is stellar. It sounds like the new fork is adaptable to fit the none-race crowd - meaning setups that are a bit more on the plush/comfortable side of things rather their usual primary focus on grip/traction over comfort.
i dunno. I love Bos, and i will continue to run bos products in the time to come.
There's service pricing listed here too www.jungleproducts.co.uk/warranty/returns/bos
Surely we should be on 45mm slippery slip-Shima silver by now?