Fox Float X Factory EVOL 2016

Since i can't seem to find any reviews about the new Float X EVOL from fox, i decided to write my own thoughts on this shock. In today's world of suspension there is no shortage of options and tune ability finding its way onto our beloved bikes. However it seems these days unless you have a degree in suspension theory you don't stand a chance dialing the right tune onto your 5way adjustable rear shock. And this was my exact problem riding the CCDB Air. Let me make one thing very clear, i don't dislike the CCDB Air and i do think that Cane Creek has an amazing product. But i personally was not able to fully grasp the tuning, so the ride quality was strongly effected by my inability to dial things in im sure. But i gave it a 3 year shot. After much heart ache and blown tires, bushings, and torched wheels, i started my search for a new rear shock that could mob with the best of them but that also had some of the tuning and work already thought out. And after racing the full BME circuit and having the pleasure to share the same trail and Jared Graves one thing became extremely clear and this was the suspension the top world pros were running. And what i saw was Fox Float X EVOL 2016 and the Rock Shock Monarch Debon Air. So me being partial to Fox the decsion was farely easy on which shock was going to grace the rear end of my bike. So i shelled out and purchased Fox's Float X EVOL model and strapped it to the Nomad CC. First thing right off the bat was the weight savings going from the CCDB Air to the Float X EVOL. And then came the set-up, about as simple and easy as it could get, Open all the compression settings, pump up the shock to match your ride weight (I should note here that you go in 10psi increments compressing the shock 25% for 10 times then ad another 10psi and so on until you reach your desired weight) but once this is done you can add and decrease as needed. So i set my sag to 18mm which is about 25% sag recommended for my Nomad CC. And it was ready to shred!!...the characteristic of the shock was immediately different some good a some different, not bad just different. The rebound damping the Climb Switch offered on the CCDB Air was always kind of nice through technical sections and allowed the tire to track really well, however this was quickly replaced by a very active and very smooth riding Fox Float X EVOL. So there are 3 positions to dial the trail of the shock (Climb, Trail, Descend) and the 3 position compression dial. I dialed in at position 2 on the compression dial and for the most part kept it in the Trail mode for climbing and flipped to the descend for the down. So lets get to the good stuff...the DOWN!!...it was a very different ride the small bump was a little stiffer but it actually seemed to track much better than my CCDB Air and the compression curve worked very well with my frame. And it only got better the faster i went. THe high speed compression was excellet! sqaure edge hits seemed to just fade away under the tires, however I did have to stop and speed up my rebound 1 click to help recover during my high speed choppy decent. But otherwise, i never felt like my tire wasn't going to make it, like it always did on my CCDB Air. I didn't feel the need to open the Compression dial to the 1st position at any point (Softest setting), but then again the trail wasn't the crazy Gnar i normally ride. That is coming on the next ride. But for now i love the change from the CCDB Air to the Float X EVOL. I plan to follow this post up with a more details on its ability on one of my favorite trails that always seems to destroy bikes. Hope this helped a few of you out there, feel free to message me any time.