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sspomer
1/23/2018 7:51am
1/23/2018 7:51am
Edited Date/Time
3/4/2018 5:21am
You can’t be a mountain bike suspension nerd and not know about PUSH. Darren Murphy started PUSH in the early 2000’s focusing on suspension services and product upgrades that would give the common rider world-class performance. Over the years, PUSH has expanded its Loveland, Colorado, facility and finally created their first shock, the Elevensix in 2015. Since then they've refined the shock and now offer their ACS3 coil conversion kits for FOX and RockShox forks.
Ask Darren your questions below and he'll do his best to answer them throughout the day!
See Other PUSH-related features on Vital
First Look: Elevensix Shock
Convert Your FOX 36 to Coil, PUSH ACS3 Fork Kit
PUSH Launches Trunnion Elevensix & RockShox ACS3 Coil Conversion Fork Kits
If you've ridden the PUSH Elevensix rear shock, rate and review it in our product guide.
www.pushindustries.com
Continuing to soften their suspension when it feels "harsh". It's counter-intuitive, but most times when your suspension feels harsh it's because it's too soft. Riding to low in the travel over bumps puts you in the more progressive part of the fork travel in the front, or more progressive part of the linkage rate in the rear. Stiffening the suspension causing it to ride higher in the stroke will often lead to a softer overall ride.
To better understand, go to your bike and just compress the fork through the first inch or two of travel. You'll get a pretty compliant initial feel. Now, lean into the fork and preload it an inch and a half and try to compress it through to the 3-4 inch travel mark. I know this is a pretty basic way of trying to explain it, and not necessarily indicative of the real world, but hopefully you get the idea.
2. is there a technical/manufacturing reason the acs3 kit isn't available for the #26aintdead pike?
3. why do you think there is differing descriptions of what exactly hs & ls comp/reb control in regards to high and low shaft speeds vs. beginning and ending stroke? how would you best describe what hs & ls controls or is this something you would cover in the videos?
Yet manufactures, yourself included always provide only one or the other. But compression always seems to get a broader tuning spectrum on production shocks. Why is that?
Do any of these functions get commonly mis-diagnosed by riders like they fuss with high speed compression when what they should be adjusting is spring pressure?
Once we get the stock suspension optimized we'll measure the actual leverage rate of the suspension, and get base line damping information on the shock using one of our suspension dynos. This gives us an insight into quantifying what we felt out on the trail, and how the settings that we came up with on the trail translate into data that we can use.
Now that we've got a feel for the suspension's mechanical characteristic, we'll try to match it up to a similar leverage rate in our database and begin building prototype shocks to field test. At this point we can not only begin to evaluate the suspension's performance by feel, but also compare the data to the information collected from the optimized stock setup. Comparing, the amount of travel used, suspension velocities, g-force at the handlebar an swingarm, etc.
Once we have squeezed out everything we can performance wise, we do a last back to back comparison to confirm the performance gains with just bikes and riders out on the trail. From there engineering will complete all of the dyno testing, build the complete database of spring rates, and organize all of the valving information for our build database.
When I will finally upgrade to 27.5", would it be technically possible (or advisable) to transfer this PUSH damper into a new 27.5 FOX34?
Thanks!
2. It really comes down to manufacturing capacity and demand. We just haven't had the demand at this point, and making just a few parts for a manufacturer our size is difficult.
3. I think it's because companies are trying to make it easier for consumers to understand if I was to guess. There's just a lot of misinformation regarding damping in general out there on the internet!
What are your general thoughts on shock tuning devices such as the ShockWiz? Have you guys tested them and is there an opportunity to leverage the data acquisition from a customer to tune their shock or fork on your end?
1) Why can't I get an eleven-6 in all black (spring, adjusters, mounting hardware, everything)?
2) Do the janky corners on Bobcat Ridge help or hurt your product development?
3) How do you get your hair to look so wavy, yet maintain control? Special kind of conditioner? Asking for a friend.
As your business model is changing, any insight on where things are headed? Specifically:
1) There was mention on MTBR that Push would be offering tuning of cartridges only. i.e. The customer pulls the cartridge and sends just it for modification and tuning. Is this happening?
2) Will Push be moving beyond offering products for just Fox and Rockshox?
3) Will Push be offering damper tuner kits that are user installable? i.e. Piston and shim modifications for Rockshox (as FIT cartridges are much harder for end users to service).
4) The million dollar question. Is the 11-6 getting a less expensive companion?
5) Perhaps you could discuss Push's tuning philosophy versus Avalanche and Vorsprung? There is often more than one solution to an issue. In the case of forks, Push's approach seems to be spring focused, Avalanche damper focused. What are the trade offs of each approach.
Compression damping is based on a variable....the ever changing terrain. Not just trail to trail, but also weather conditions, if you change tires, cockpit, etc. Because of these variables, it's nice to have more fine tuning control.
1. Spring. Your spring rate controls ride height and bottoming and should be set with your compression set soft and your rebound set fast. While sag is a great starting reference, the overall ride quality should ultimately determine your final air pressure/volume/coil spring rate.
2. Compression. Compression damping controls the suspensions characteristic when it comes to things like brake dive, cornering performance, and pedal induced movements.
3. Rebound. How much rebound control is necessary is determined by how much your fork or shock is compressing so it should be set last. Rebound damping also has the largest effect on rider comfort at the handlebar or feet, so having your spring rate and compression optimized first will allow you to achieve the largest level of comfort and control from your rebound setting.
Following this order should keep you on track and reduce the chances of misdiagnosing your setup.
You may cringe seeing this question based on the MTBR thread, but is there a rough ETA on the Nomad 4 ELEVENSIX?
BTW, having one on my previous Nomad, it's the best performance upgrade I've ever felt on a bike. Cheers!
Is the sag compromised after this affirmation?
I don't believe that damper would transfer due to changes in the FOX upper assemblies on the newer forks using a different thread pitch.
We've had a look at some alternate systems that have some potential so we'll see.
Modern forks have very tight packaging so being able to fit a long enough spring to achieve 180mm of travel while offering enough rates hasn't been possible unfortunately.
2. We rock those corners foot out and flat out....so, help is the answer!
3. Your friend likes huh? Here's the secret: https://www.pushindustries.com/collections/suspension-tools/products/pu…
2. Certainly possible, although we don't have plans at the moment.
3. Possibly, but no plans at the moment. IF you have the right tools, the FIT dampers are actually quite smooth to work with.
4. No. We would have to make significant changes(compromises) to our product an process to do this. We're very proud and completely committed to of our "Made Here" and "Performance First" values.
5. Not sure on this one as we provide tuning systems that are both damper and spring based. We tune products based on the entire system.
What options are there to improve the 2018 Fox 34 Rhythm? What would you suggest?
And then, is this the way to go or would it be better to sell the Rhythm and purchase something else?
Thank you for taking the time to do this Q & A.
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