Pinkbike Awards: Suspension Product of the Year Nominees
Suspension Product of the Year Nominees
There's certainly an argument to be made that modern suspension is so good, so refined that all we're left with these days are minutely small baby steps forward in performance, and you wouldn't be all that wrong for taking that stance. I mean, the good stuff is good, but is it really getting all that much better? If you've spent any time on our three Suspension Product of the Year Nominees, you might answer that question with an emphatic 'yes.'
Fox features heavy yet again, first with the impressive, four-way adjustable GRIP2 damper that's employed inside their high-end 36 and 40 series forks. Today's top dampers provide incredible control, but the conclusion around these parts is that the GRIP2 unit is the one to have. Fox gets the nod again for their electronically-controlled Live Valve suspension that uses fast-reacting sensors to allow the system to adjust itself to suit the terrain; firm when you need to put the power down, but it'll open up the split-second it senses an impact. Is the future now? Maybe.
Last but not least is RockShox's new Lyrik. This heavy-hitter is available in 150, 160, 170, 180mm travel options and all the offsets, but the real news is the new Charger unit inside of it. The Charger 2 RC2 damper brings high-speed compression adjustment back to RockShox's front suspension, and you also have low-speed rebound and compression as well.
Why it's nominated
If damper technology stopped evolving a year or two ago, it really wouldn't be the end of the world. I mean, aside from every brand being touched by the creaky CSU curse, things were pretty damn good in 2017, right? Of course they were; no one was being held back by their FIT4 or Charger dampers. But things can always be better, and Fox re-worked the first GRIP cartridge, something that was originally intended for so-called budget-minded forks, into something that truly does offer the rider more control. Oh, and you can tinker with high-speed rebound now as well.
It's not just that they added external HSR control to their fork - that's been done before - but it's how they did it. It'd take a few zillion words to explain it here, but Fox's Variable Valve Control (VVC) system is a more usable and effective way to tune HSR than has ever been done before, and it makes for a fork that offers even better action. Want to know more? Check out our in-depth GRIP2 breakdown to see how the VVC design works. The only downside is that you can only get it inside of Fox's high-end 36 and 40 forks. For now.
From the review:
 | It's a tough one to call, but if I had to choose I'd go with the Fox 36. The extra adjustability is a plus, but it's really the top-notch performance of the GRIP2 damper that gives it the edge over the Lyrik. The difference is slight, though, and both forks are at the top of their class, extremely capable options no matter if you have your sights set on EWS glory or just want something that can handle those after work hot laps. |
Why it's nominated
Levers of lies that firm up your suspension, anti-squat, platform damping, and inertia valves are all coping mechanisms, while mountain bike suspension kinematics are designed to sit somewhere between good pedaling and a good ride. A rider thinks about what's coming up and then makes their best guess - maybe some damping gets added, maybe some spring rate gets wound off - and then they settle on the results until the terrain warrants a change.
First, some perspective: The average human reaction time is .25 seconds for visual stimulus and as short as .15 seconds for tactile stimulus, which doesn't exactly sound slow. It is slow, though. Fox's Live Valve uses two accelerometers (one in the fork arch, the other near the rear axle) to sense and measure the velocity of vertical movement to register impacts. That information is sent through wires to Live Valve's microprocessor, and the system can respond in a mere .003 seconds. The premise is simple: Live Valve turns on your bike's suspension when you need it, and turns it off when you don't. Electronics get us riled up, with most of us not exactly eager to be putting batteries and whatnot on our bikes. Sure, I get it, but Live Valve, while complicated, should make getting the most performance from your rig more simple than ever before.
From the review:
| Fox was right to wait until Live Valve was thoroughly proven before they released it. I imagined that I'd be concluding with a carefully scripted paragraph that weighed its astronomical retail price against its potential benefits. The bottom line is that Live Valve represents the most useful and important suspension innovation to emerge during a decade of boring gradual improvements. It works great, and I don't want to ride without it. |
Why it's nominated
The big news from RockShox in 2018 was the return of externally adjustable high-speed compression damping, now found on both the Lyrik RC2 and BoXXer World Cup DebonAir. That dial had been absent for a few seasons as part of RockShox's 'less is more' take on things but now it's back. And instead of a zillion clicks that might be overwhelming, there are just five possible HSC settings; the middle said to be identical to the amount of HSC damping found on last year's model. Let me take off my Pit Vipers and flat brim hat for a second to admit that yes, a lot of dials and a lot of clicks can end up being confusing, so the Lyrik's (and BoXXer's) new damper having a straightforward five options should make things simple.
From the review:
| At no point during my rides on the Lyrik did I find myself thinking “If only I had adjustable high-speed rebound and more clicks of high-speed compression...” It's also hard to make the Lyrik perform poorly - even with both compression dials turned all the way in, the fork still remained rideable, although it was certainly much firmer than my normal settings. |
Last year's Suspension of the Year battle turned out to be a David versus Goliath affair, with David (MRP) managing to sneak off with the trophy thanks to the impressive (and, if I'm honest, surprising) performance of their Ribbon fork. This year, it's down to just the two big players, and the question is this: which suspension product offers the best performance advantage, and which one will have the biggest effect on what we'll be using in the future: GRIP2, Live Valve, or the new Lyrik?
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Member since Oct 18, 2005
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I'm surprised this product was not even on the radar..especially considering it's not just an improvement of an existing category but the creation of an entirely new category.
You guys filled a missing niche and brought the dual crown to the enduro/all mt. realm.
-15mm thru axle and 170, 180, and 190 travel options to 27.5 and 29r...just too awesome!
I've put 8 rides on mine and it's a game changer..no loss to flickability and gained tons of stability and monster tuck charging ability-Fun meter pinned!
I can't wait for the Hazzard!..Keep up the amazing work and everyone should buy a Bartlett!..I've never
had a suspension product so drastically change/improve the riding experience like this one.
BTW..MRP's customer service was fantastic!!!
And yes I certainly do get it..I've been blathering on about the "one bike" thing forever and you made it
a reality..No need to switch back and forth between a single and dual crown AND a different wheel with a 20mm axle hub, and cockpit..just a direct mount stem and Boom!..one bike bliss. It climbs just as well as the single crown it replaced with the lower axle to crown height.
Mine is mounted to a 2019 Carbon Patrol and currently weighs 33lb 11oz. I still have plenty of weight to drop with Carbon wheels a much lighter cassette and carbon bar..target weight is around 32lbs ish-don't want to go any lighter as I think It would be diminishing returns in respect to high speed stability, etc.
Your Firebird combo will be ridiculous!!! will be sick!
Shoot me a pick when your bike is built.
Cheers!
As for fatigue life, nothing to worry about there. It's comparable to standard springs.
Why no love for the Specialized Enduro with the Hazard?
uh, FAIL!
Just a quick google search would've shown PB that you can, indeed, purchase the G2 cartridge by ITSELF.
I upgraded my '18 36s with the G2 cartridge for I wanna say around $200
Oh, and the G2 damper is HEAD AND SHOULDERS above ANYTHING SRAM has(and even the previous Fox RC2 cartridge for that matter) and it has NOTHING to do with it having HSR. The G2 damper provides a MUCH smoother ride that anything else on the market, and you'd have to be tripping on LSD not to notice it
or how Ohlins transformed their fork(s) into a paperweight/boat anchor(take your pick) with one fell press release
Come to think of it, did you have to talk about live valve when Levy was out of the room? Because given his views on tiny propedal levers (read "crutches") I can imagine him turning into a big green raging muscly fella at the thought of an electrical circuit spewing out of a shock. Or is something actuated by a finger more worthy of disdain than something controlled by a CPU. I vote for the finger.
Or manitou, CC, SR suntour, DVO or even Ohlins, only RS and FOX seems to be dumb enough to produce longer an longer versions while also making them lighter at the same time in every model year. But yes, light weight sells stuff, so people who buy their stuff are the one to blame.
Feels great in the car park and is ideal for people who want "comfy" suspension, but that fact is that the FIT bladder damper is superior - it just costs more to produce.
As for LV... they exist. They're in the wild. They're being ridden. So far most of what I've read has been positive. So it's not some make believe product. It's real. Bike Co's are building frames for it. it'll be on the aftermarket soon, etc.
Seems like a reasonable time to have it up for this type of award.
Just like 6 days KTMs indeed sell, but when you go to the track its all YZ450F, and 2 strokes
For the price, i think LV falls significantly short of what features it should deliver to justify the costs, especially when you stack it up against the competitors in this category for what it is offering to riders at a much lower pricepoint.