Well, I said I'd follow up with a better review. Thing is, I haven't been on my DH bike much. I work it in every now and then, but not consistantly enough to feel good about reviewing it.
Now it is different though, I have several good days of DHing it in Flagstaff on some pretty sick trails, in addition to local-to-me stuff.
We've been hitting the trails such as Steel Reserve, Private Reserve, Blue Dot, and Wasabi. These are full on DH trails with chutes, drops, huge rolls, doubles, just about anything you can imagine.
The DHX is great. The best thing about it is that I can tune it to essentially match my front end in terms of feel. With the shiver save-my-a$$ fork, the rear end can be tuned to be ultra-supple and responsive just like the front. I really appreciate this feel in slow technical sections that are filled with drops. The rear end simply does the same as the front, absorbs, flows, doesn't ever get harsh.
The ramp-up feels great. This is more of an aspect of my bike than the shock, but the 5th elements ramp up did not feel anything like this. The best way to describe it is "smooth", my bike gets progressive, but the rate at which it does this is just smooth. What this doesn't feel like is a bike that starts out too linear, and ramps up too fast. It just works well. I've tried adjusting the progression adjuster just to see if it works, it does, and it seems to have the same smooth ramp up, but my bike doesn't seem to need any adjustment here, so I leave it at zero. No bottoming, off of drops, jumps, etc. I haven't gone over 8-10 feet with it yet, but the travel seems pretty bottomless. I don't know if this thing has any progressivness when it's in the "zero" setting like I have it, but my 5th with a 50lb lighter spring was not overly progressive, it didn't bottom but it was nowhere as smooth and consistant in the rate as the DHX. Still, my bike with the DHX on "zero" ramp-up is very progressive.
Rebound is good, the clicker doesn't seem to have quite as much range as the old vanilla RC, where you could adjust it so far that it would actually take like 2 min to return to extended, but then again that is utterly useless. I don't run much rebound, maybe 7-9 clicks. This helps keep it from packing at higher speed. One time I over-rotated on a double which made me touch down front wheel-first (this is where the shiver and monster Ts we were using comes into play
), so the "springy" feeling is there if you want it. I prefer a "springy" feeling because it usually means good high speed absorbtion, but my adjustment most likely contributed to this over-rotation. (but the guy after me did the same thing, landed on his monster, we both rode it out fine, the 3rd guy that did it was funny, he landed the double headed straight for a tree, so he bailed and he went one way around the tree, and the bike went the other way). In addition to high speed stuff, I've done lots of low speed drops, rolls, and technical sections with it. It doesn't buck me or anything, it simply works very well with my front end to provide a very balanced feel, and while some refer to the 5th as being "glued" to the ground, this feels like it tracks the ground better because it is absorbing stuff and using it's travel at the same time.
The propedal adjustment works well, it blows off seemlessly, and doesn't detract much from the performance of the shock. Going to a high propedal setting makes a more noticable difference, but this isn't like the 5th element where when you set a "threshold" the shock "ignores" all inputs below that threshold, this simply is low speed compression damping. Low speed compression damping won't ignore low speed impacts, it will simply act "slower" when you dial it that way. Low propedal settings, 1-10 or so, don't seem to have a negative effect on the shock. Even so, I ran it at zero today, and loved the feel. If I was racing on a course, I would find this adjustment usefull, and I ride my DH bike up some serious mountains anyhow, so I do use this.
Air pressure is the big mystery adjustment. It doesn't work the same as the air pressure in a progressive shock. In the DHX the air pressure seems to control the high speed compression. Around 150psi is what I used today, and it seem to be very nice. The usefull range of the shock is about 120-200. The manual says you can go lower than 120, but I've been warned by fox shox people that less than 120 could allow oil/air to get past the piston and screw it up, by going to 120 as your low-end setting you eliminate the possibility.
One thing that is nice about this shock is the "usefull ranges" of adjustments. Some adjustments like propedal and air pressure don't have huge changes between "one click" and the range of the adjustment doesn't seem excessive. The reason that this is cool is that fox seems to have nailed down the usefull range, where if you used any more propedal the shock would be completely like a$$, and if you used any more compression damping the same would apply. As I said, the rebound range is less, but it is still PLENTY, it's not lacking. All of these things seem to contribute to a very tunable shock that you don't need a Phd to tune.
With the propedal adjustment you get to have your cake and eat it too in terms of the sacrifices you make with a 5th element. Going to an excessive propedal adjustment will make it a bit harsh, but this does not feel like the 5th. You get to have that buttery vanilla-type high speed reaction, and it definitely feels "springy" compared to the 5th. The adjustments allow you to take the shock wherever you want though, increase low speed compression for better pedaling, increase progression, etc. The word with this shock is "smooth" and it performs well at high and low speed. The ramp-up rate just seems perfect. It won't pedal as well as a 5th element that is turned up a lot, but I wouldn't want to ride a 5th like that anyway. The propedal is somewhat subtle, but it's there and doing it's job. IMO, this thing blows away the 5th, feels a good deal better than the romic, has very usefull adjustments, and can work for a wide range of riders and bikes. It was worth the rediculously cheap EP price, but at $399 retail it's not a bad deal either, at least if you are looking for more active suspension that does what suspension is supposed to, suspend.
The only real downside so far is that it doesn't fit all frames. The resi is pretty long, and on some turners and others, they are finding that they can not fit it. This thing was worth it though, and I am starting to see that it's being speced on many new bikes. Fox seems to have done their homework with this one, and it's definitely upped the playing field IMO.
(short mallet review; nice, but I'm clipping way more rocks!)
Now it is different though, I have several good days of DHing it in Flagstaff on some pretty sick trails, in addition to local-to-me stuff.
We've been hitting the trails such as Steel Reserve, Private Reserve, Blue Dot, and Wasabi. These are full on DH trails with chutes, drops, huge rolls, doubles, just about anything you can imagine.
The DHX is great. The best thing about it is that I can tune it to essentially match my front end in terms of feel. With the shiver save-my-a$$ fork, the rear end can be tuned to be ultra-supple and responsive just like the front. I really appreciate this feel in slow technical sections that are filled with drops. The rear end simply does the same as the front, absorbs, flows, doesn't ever get harsh.
The ramp-up feels great. This is more of an aspect of my bike than the shock, but the 5th elements ramp up did not feel anything like this. The best way to describe it is "smooth", my bike gets progressive, but the rate at which it does this is just smooth. What this doesn't feel like is a bike that starts out too linear, and ramps up too fast. It just works well. I've tried adjusting the progression adjuster just to see if it works, it does, and it seems to have the same smooth ramp up, but my bike doesn't seem to need any adjustment here, so I leave it at zero. No bottoming, off of drops, jumps, etc. I haven't gone over 8-10 feet with it yet, but the travel seems pretty bottomless. I don't know if this thing has any progressivness when it's in the "zero" setting like I have it, but my 5th with a 50lb lighter spring was not overly progressive, it didn't bottom but it was nowhere as smooth and consistant in the rate as the DHX. Still, my bike with the DHX on "zero" ramp-up is very progressive.
Rebound is good, the clicker doesn't seem to have quite as much range as the old vanilla RC, where you could adjust it so far that it would actually take like 2 min to return to extended, but then again that is utterly useless. I don't run much rebound, maybe 7-9 clicks. This helps keep it from packing at higher speed. One time I over-rotated on a double which made me touch down front wheel-first (this is where the shiver and monster Ts we were using comes into play
), so the "springy" feeling is there if you want it. I prefer a "springy" feeling because it usually means good high speed absorbtion, but my adjustment most likely contributed to this over-rotation. (but the guy after me did the same thing, landed on his monster, we both rode it out fine, the 3rd guy that did it was funny, he landed the double headed straight for a tree, so he bailed and he went one way around the tree, and the bike went the other way). In addition to high speed stuff, I've done lots of low speed drops, rolls, and technical sections with it. It doesn't buck me or anything, it simply works very well with my front end to provide a very balanced feel, and while some refer to the 5th as being "glued" to the ground, this feels like it tracks the ground better because it is absorbing stuff and using it's travel at the same time. The propedal adjustment works well, it blows off seemlessly, and doesn't detract much from the performance of the shock. Going to a high propedal setting makes a more noticable difference, but this isn't like the 5th element where when you set a "threshold" the shock "ignores" all inputs below that threshold, this simply is low speed compression damping. Low speed compression damping won't ignore low speed impacts, it will simply act "slower" when you dial it that way. Low propedal settings, 1-10 or so, don't seem to have a negative effect on the shock. Even so, I ran it at zero today, and loved the feel. If I was racing on a course, I would find this adjustment usefull, and I ride my DH bike up some serious mountains anyhow, so I do use this.
Air pressure is the big mystery adjustment. It doesn't work the same as the air pressure in a progressive shock. In the DHX the air pressure seems to control the high speed compression. Around 150psi is what I used today, and it seem to be very nice. The usefull range of the shock is about 120-200. The manual says you can go lower than 120, but I've been warned by fox shox people that less than 120 could allow oil/air to get past the piston and screw it up, by going to 120 as your low-end setting you eliminate the possibility.
One thing that is nice about this shock is the "usefull ranges" of adjustments. Some adjustments like propedal and air pressure don't have huge changes between "one click" and the range of the adjustment doesn't seem excessive. The reason that this is cool is that fox seems to have nailed down the usefull range, where if you used any more propedal the shock would be completely like a$$, and if you used any more compression damping the same would apply. As I said, the rebound range is less, but it is still PLENTY, it's not lacking. All of these things seem to contribute to a very tunable shock that you don't need a Phd to tune.
With the propedal adjustment you get to have your cake and eat it too in terms of the sacrifices you make with a 5th element. Going to an excessive propedal adjustment will make it a bit harsh, but this does not feel like the 5th. You get to have that buttery vanilla-type high speed reaction, and it definitely feels "springy" compared to the 5th. The adjustments allow you to take the shock wherever you want though, increase low speed compression for better pedaling, increase progression, etc. The word with this shock is "smooth" and it performs well at high and low speed. The ramp-up rate just seems perfect. It won't pedal as well as a 5th element that is turned up a lot, but I wouldn't want to ride a 5th like that anyway. The propedal is somewhat subtle, but it's there and doing it's job. IMO, this thing blows away the 5th, feels a good deal better than the romic, has very usefull adjustments, and can work for a wide range of riders and bikes. It was worth the rediculously cheap EP price
, but at $399 retail it's not a bad deal either, at least if you are looking for more active suspension that does what suspension is supposed to, suspend.The only real downside so far is that it doesn't fit all frames. The resi is pretty long, and on some turners and others, they are finding that they can not fit it. This thing was worth it though, and I am starting to see that it's being speced on many new bikes. Fox seems to have done their homework with this one, and it's definitely upped the playing field IMO.
(short mallet review; nice, but I'm clipping way more rocks!)
