I love having the opportunity to check out cool and exciting new MTB products, especially those from smaller niche manufacturers. Elka suspension opened its doors in Quebec, Canada back in 2000, starting out in the performance / racing ATV market. The company has now grown into a multi-discipline manufacturer but mountain bikers still get all the individual attention and professional support that only a pro racer would expect.

The Elka Stage 5 is a 4-way adjustable rear shock ranging in sizes from 7.5″ x 2″ all the way to 10.5″ x 3.5″, covering nearly all the AM-DH bikes that are out there.  The shining feature here is the bike-specific custom valving, a feature that no other manufacturer I know of provides standard. The shock is constructed using hard anodized machined aluminum on the body, main shaft, main piston and reservoir and features easy to use adjustments with a wide range of tuning. The clickers all have a very positive feel to them with no need for tools to turn them.

Due to the high-flowing internals of the shock, Elka uses a high-volume external reservoir to ensure adequate internal oil flow. To guarantee a long service life, Elka included long life premium seals, O-rings and wear bands in the internals of the shock plus DU bushing for the eyelets and a quality micro-cellular urethane bumper. As an added bonus, Elka didn’t want to re-invent the wheel so they used standard spring and mounting hardware (1/2″ DU bushing hardware and 1.38″ inner diameter springs). Looking carefully on the outside you will also notice the razor perfect lines of CNC machine work. An optional titanium spring is available for those who are concerned about saving weight.

Internally there is a standard De Carbon main damping system (shim stack main piston). The shim stack can be easily tuned by Elka during production to fit each bike and rider’s needs. Upon delivery the rider can further tune the shock externally, with the two HSC / LSC concentric adjusters. The technicians at the Elka factory tune and calibrate to perfection with the perfect amount of low-speed damping, usually on the strong side, providing a suspension that is firm, nimble, stable and quick. Out of the box the shock tends to maintain the bike’s ride height, using less travel and maintaining stability.

On the high speed side of things, the exclusive high-speed compression circuit is in fact an adjustable progressive blow-off valve, based on a piston and shim stack design. A calibrated spring controls the initial resistance of the valves and the HSC knob changes the pre-load on that spring. The adjustment controls the threshold where the blow-off circuit opens to reduce the pressure building up in the shock upon impact. Since this circuit is parallel to the low-speed compression circuit, the transition between the “firm” state and the “plush” state is progressive and smooth and proportional to the force of the impact. Elka’s rebound circuit is a shim stack that is speed-sensitive.

Having run the Stage 5 for a few months now I’ve decided this rear shock is one of my top three favorites (though it’s hard to say which of those three is the best!). Since the Stage 5 has a ton of settings, it’s important to follow the correct procedure when setting it up. After installing the shock, set the sag (assuming you have the correct spring rate) by adjusting the spring collar. Usually 2 – 3 turns maximum will do the job. If you find you’re turning more than 5 that is a good indication that your spring rate is too low.

After setting the sag it’s off to the slopes for testing! What I have found that works for me is setting everything at one third the total range. Doing this forgoes possible endos and other nasty things when you have way too little rebound.  At this point I focus on the things a rear shock should handle: cornering, hits (both big and small), and straightline stability. That’s a tall order but it’s what all the suspension manufacturers have to contend with!

When I dial in a shock I tend to set rebound first followed by low and high speed compression. The key is to do only one at a time until you’re satisfied. When setting rebound you’re looking to get to a point where the wheel maintains traction (contact with the ground) but does not pack up (lose travel after a series of bumps). Rebound takes care of the dreaded bronco-style rides that can result when the setting is way too low. I ended up having my rebound set at 23 clicks (out of 30) from full soft (pretty active).

Low speed compression (LSC) takes care of things like rolling hills and rider inputs (pedaling) and corner entry. I rode a series of high speed berm turns and flats to jumps to get the attitude and level of control I wanted. I wanted my bike to be sensitive enough that I felt the ground beneath me without too harsh of a ride (chatter). I also tried off-the-saddle sprints when pedaling to jumps and I ended up with 17 click of adjustment (out of 22).

Finally I set the high speed compression (HSC), and based on the recommendation from Patrick at Elka I did my best to set up the shock with as little HSC as possible. Following the guide I started with no HSC and added 2 clicks at a time until I was satisfied that the bike was not bottoming out. Seeing that from slope to slope and park to park there are wild combinations of jumps and varying degrees of height, this is a setting that will see a lot of adjustment. With the slopes of Blue Mountain and my style of riding (I tend to land both wheels at the same time) I found a setting of 6-8 clicks (out of 22) was all I needed. The bike stayed in control, didn’t feel harsh, and as a few other riders who also tested out the bike said, it was amazing.

So check out Elka and contract them if you’re looking for a near-custom valved shock for your AM – DH rig. Elka’s ability to provide the individual service in itself is worth the $495 MSRP ($450 for the shock, $45 for the spring).

Thanks to Patrick and the folks at Elka for providing the Stage 5 for review.

A short time ago I did a write up on the Rockshox Revelation suspension fork. Well, Rockshox has the back of your bike covered just as well with the Monarch RT3 which could very well be your next go-to rear shock. Read on to find out why…

The Monarch RT3 comes in a variety of lengths, from 152mm x 31mm all the way up to 222mm x 66mm. Rockshox offers three tuning options (low, mid, and high) so you can best match the level of dampening to the leverage ratio of your ride (typically the higher the ratio the higher the tune). On longer versions, you can even order a large volume air spring chamber to change the behavior of the air spring itself. This gives the rider the choice of a rising rate or a more linear spring rate.

The Monarch RT3 offers 3 adjustments. Starting with the Solo air, you can easily set the air spring pressure. Laser-etched gradients on the side of the low friction hard-anodized 28mm chassis make it is easy to set your sag. The beginning stroke rebound is the second adjustment which has been improved over the previous model Monarch shock. This allows you to manage the small hits on the trail while a factory-set end stroke rebound takes care of the bigger hits. The final control is the 3-step floodgate which allows you to control the compression force.

Getting set

My Opus Clutch with 150mm of rear travel uses the 200x50mm Monarch and for a slightly plusher ride I went with the high volume option. The leverage ratio required the high tune for optimal performance and keeps the rebound dial and floodgate dead in the middle of their ranges of adjustment. This gives me the ability to tune from there.

Once the three-piece unit was installed (sold separately, and a piece of cake to install), it was just a matter of setting the shock to 20% sag (which is recommended by Opus). I put on all my gear (hydration pack with water, munchies, helmet, knee pads, first aid kit, tubes, etc) and jounced the bike around a whole bunch before setting the sag, compression, and rebound. After I was convinced the bike had been “relaxed” enough, I set the shock setting at 20% sag. For those following along at home, just make sure you’re level on your bike and not leaning either way too much. Even better, have someone hold the bike or at least have a hand-hold nearby to balance yourself.

As far as tuning the floodgate and rebound is concerned, I started dead in the middle and went for a few rides to get used to the shock. Afterward I turned the rebound two more clicks towards the “rabbit” side and found myself perfectly happy in the third setting of the floodgate.

On the trail

On the trail I really appreciated the simple set-up and ease of use of the Rockshox Monarch RT3. The gate lever is big enough that I can find it with gloves on without slowing down. The clickers are rather positive which meant I never found myself guessing if I made a change or not.

As far as performance on the trails and even hitting jumps, I can say that I didn’t manage to make the shock fade. Jumping and doing small 5-foot step downs I found the RT3 controlled the back wheel nicely. The settings I chose were perfect for the bike and did a great job at keeping the wheel on the trail without too harsh a ride. On rock gardens the RT3 did well and kept up with the terrain.

Of course as with any mountain bike shock, set-up is key here – adding too much rebound can quickly pack down your suspension. Now there are limits to the RT3 and I think I did encounter them when I tried to push it with some bigger stuff that’s out there, bottoming out once or twice on some not-so-smooth drops. At least I didn’t get a super harsh crash in the suspension (although I don’t think prolonged attempts at that will be a good thing for the shock or the bike). If you plan on getting a bit more daring you may want to consider the Monarch Plus.

For about $255 MSRP you’re getting a good quality rear shock which will work great on your XC – Trail  bike without totally depleting your bank account (just remember that price doesn’t include mounting hardware).  Do you have one already? If so let us know how you feel about yours. Cheers!

A quick shout out to Tyler Morland for his insights into the ins and out of the Monarch RT3 and thanks to the folks at Rockshox for sending down the gear to test.

When it comes to gravity riders, depending on who you talk to you get two basic types: those who care about the weight of their rig and those who pretend not to care about weight. But let’s face it, weight kills performance: both on the rider and on the ride. The more weight the bike has to carry, the slower a rider can change direction and speed, which limits their performance wailing down slopes at speeds that would make Mario Andretti messa his shortsa.

Clearly Rockshox is familiar with speed (not the messing shorts bit) and based on their commitment to top riders on the World Cup circuit, they have come up with inventive ways to save on weight. And I’m not talking about small savings here – I’m talking about a good 400 grams in savings on a single component which is huge.

The Technology

Witness the Vivid Air RC2 mountain bike shock. Essentially RockShox found a way to convert a coil shock into an air shock, which wasn’t easy by any means. Think of it: trying to get an air spring to behave like a steel spring – seems like a daunting challenge. Taking a look at the exploded view below, you can see for yourself that it really isn’t very simple at all. But then again not everything can be.

While the Vivid Air may look a bit complex with its dual air chambers, it’s basically very similar to the original Vivid coil shock. A modified shock body (J) has been machined smooth and now serves as part of the air spring. Parts (A)-(E) as well as (N) belong to the dual chamber air spring. Everything else is pretty much the same as the Vivid coil. All of this combines to achieve a coil spring-like feel – minus the heavy coil. Comparing spring rates between the Vivid Air and the Vivid coil shows they are nearly the same with the exception of the last few millimeters in travel where the Vivid coil ramps up a touch faster than the Vivid Air.

What you don’t see in the new Vivid Air is the hot rod compensation pellet which is built into the bypass rod. When heated (during extended runs), the pellet expands and adds additional rebound force. Some of you might scoff and say plastic isn’t durable enough but rest assured, the hot rod is a well engineered addition to the rebound rod.

Adjustments

The Vivid R2C features a host of adjustments. The most obvious one is the air spring pressure which means no more pesky coil spring swaps. There’s also the external low speed compression adjustment plus beginning and end stroke adjustments. These four dials give you pretty much everything you need to get your rig wailing down them slopes pinned and sticking to the trail. What you don’t get (which you’ll need to purchase separately) are the frame adapters. I opted for the three piece solution rather than the two piece aluminum set; it’s a bit more costly but a longer-lasting solution for your bike.

Installation and Set-up

Looking at the Vivid Air you might assume it’s larger than a coil shock but that’s not really the case. The overall diameter is only a few millimeters larger than a coil shock but since you can’t see through the Vivid Air that makes it look bigger. Installation works the same as it does for any other unit out on the market today – just make sure you install the shock so that you can get to all the adjustments and make sure the reservoir doesn’t strike anything when your suspension moves. Install the shock with no air and cycle the suspension to make sure you’re clear – easy peasy.

Setting up the Vivid Air is pretty much the same process as the Vivid coil except that you’re going to add or remove air from the single valve on the air can (it sets up the negative spring automatically via internal compensation ports). In my case I needed 30% sag on my Banshee Legend II, so knowing the stroke of the shock (76mm) and multiplying it by 0.30 I get the sag measurement (76mm x 0.30= 23mm). With that I just added air into the shock until I reached my measurement. Unfortunately the Vivid Air doesn’t have the sag gradients that grace many other Rockshox products; instead the gradients are printed on the reservoir sticker

With the sag set, it was time to head out to the slopes to fully set up the shock. Using my experience with the Vivid coil shock, I started off with the compression settings and quickly found that the Legend got a lot of traction with 4 clicks on the compression dial. The terrain that I was riding featured a mix of rocky, rooted terrain with hard patches and soft stuff in and around. With this set up I found I had good control over the wheel on the rough stuff while still tracking the terrain nicely.  On landing big jumps, the compression setting did well controlling the bike without too much fuss.

After the compression was set I started looking at the rebound settings. I tuned the beginning  stroke rebound (which plays a major roll on rockgardens) so that I didn’t get a bucking sensation out back when the wheel tried to return after those hits. The sweet spot for me was right about 9 clicks.

Lastly I set the end stroke rebound (for bigger hits) which was by far the most fun to set up. Essentially I was sessioning a few jumps and dialing the shock until I ended up at 5 clicks. I found the Banshee and the Vivid worked great together, mostly due to the initial rear wheel travel (designed into the geometry) which gave great control over the bike when hitting harder, squared-edged stuff. This also allowed me to dial back on the adjustments, resulting in more wheel sensitivity without sacrificing control.

Overall the Vivid Air feels great and performs like a champ. As a result I have a bike that is a pound and a half lighter, I don’t have to play with springs, and I have good control over my bike with a coil-like feeling. I’m definitely looking forward to playing around with the Vivid Air to see how much more I can get out of it in the future. The only drawback I can see is that the price for the Vivid Air is a few dollars more than the coil version. At about $630 MSRP it’s not cheap but to get a coil shock down to race weight the only other option is to upgrade to a titanium spring (which adds another $200 at least). To me that makes the Vivid Air a great value.

I would like to thank Tyler Morland and the good folks at Rockshox for setting up the Vivid Air for a review.

Ten days ago I reviewed the RockShox Totem fork and I mentioned testing the matching Vivid 5.1 rear shock as well. Now it’s time to let you know a little more about this shock.

The RockShox Vivid 5.1 is chock full of features but first I want to talk about its construction. Using race proven, hard anodized forged aluminum construction and a 12.7mm hard anodized 7075  aluminum piston shaft, this shock can take a serious drubbing. The Vivid also sports an intelligently laid out control system which allows you to get to the knobs without too much worry.

Speaking of controls, the Vivid 5.1 lets you tweak beginning and end stroke, rebound, and low speed compression. You can also adjust the spring pre-load (common on sprung shocks) and the drop stop bump stop.

Setting up the Vivid 5.1 just right took a bit of work. Using the trailside tuning guide that comes with the Vivid is a great start – it even includes a section for you to note your set-ups for specific courses. I recommend writing everything down, including temperatures and soil conditions as well (just in case).

My Opus Nelson was set up with a spring rate of 400lbs which was a touch too soft so I decided to get the 450lb spring from Rockshox. I set up the preload to about 20% sag and continued with the shock adjustment. RockShox mentions an initial set-up of 3-4-10: 3 clicks low speed compression, 4 clicks ending stroke rebound, and 10 clicks beginning stroke rebound.

I hit the trails with the preliminary settings and quickly realized I need to make adjustments. My local trails are mainly on the harder side of things with small patches of loamy and soft pads. Based on the conditions I went with a softer compression setting (2 clicks) which gave me a bit more grip when the tire was looking for traction. The end stroke rebound setting was the toughest one to nail down but I managed to get it right after carefully adding a drop of synthetic lube to moisten the seal and working the adjustment a bit. I ultimately ended up with 5 clicks on the end stroke control and it felt great. On the beginning stroke rebound, I dialed back to 8 clicks which was a bit too quick of a return so I ended up with 9 clicks, which felt just about right. Note: these adjustments may seem minor (just one click in either direction from the initial settings) but trust me, it makes a huge difference in performance!

The Vivid 5.1 felt comfortable hitting everything from rock gardens to step downs to major jumps. Fully dialed in for the terrain and your riding style, this versatile shock works very well. The internal hydraulic circuits are sensitive enough to control both slow and fast shaft speeds with equal efficiency thanks to the Dual Flow adjust technology. The control dials need to be worked loose a bit so I added synthetic lube to the seals which made it easier to turn the knobs. Other than that, I found the Vivid 5.1 to be a good rear shock with no need for using air to control the bottom out resistance like some other shocks I’ve tried. Rockshox wisely opted to used a nitrogen charge that you won’t need to fiddle with.

This shock is for anyone who has a bike with 6 inches of travel or more and intends to hit the trails and slopes hard. And with the Vivid 5.1, the harder you hit the trails, the better it performs. You’ll also find the Vivid 5.1 adapts well to the varying terrain beneath your wheels. My test bike, with 7.2 inches of travel, felt like it magically gained an extra inch of with the Vivid 5.1. The progression of dampening worked great in compression, with a smooth increase in resistance near the end of its stroke. I don’t think I ever bottomed out the suspension but if I did, it was so smooth when hit the drop stop bump stop that I didn’t feel a thing.

Give the Rockshox Vivid 5.1 ($343 MSRP + $30 spring) a test for yourself and I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a solid choice. Before you order you may want to contact your bike manufacturer and ask them what spring rate would work best for your weight and riding style. Sometimes it may take a few days for a reply but it will be worth it in the end.

I would like to thank the folks at RockShox for sending over the Vivid 5.1 for product review.

Specs from RockShox

Dr. David Batterbee, a Sheffield University boffin (look it up) will be awarded $62,000 from the Royal Academy of Engineering to develop a prototype for a new mountain bike suspension system he invented. Batterbee basically developed a rear shock that “electronically monitors the severity of the terrain and optimises the bike’s performance automatically.” No more reaching down to lock out your shock on long climbs – this shock has an electronic brain that finds the right compression setting based on real-time trail conditions. Batterbee and his supervisor are serious about bringing the system to market and we’ll be watching to see what they come out with.

This raises a question, though, about just how far power-assisted technology should be allowed to go with mountain bikes. It’s one thing to use an electronic spedometer or an electric light but what about electronic shifters or even small motors to help you get up the hill? At some point a mountain bike becomes an electric bike and I think most of us can agree that ain’t right. So where should we draw the line?