Foy DHX Air, durability, fading...?!

[Cannon]

Hi, any doubts about the DHX Air?
Someone who rides(or has ridden) it for longer than 5 minits?
Long term durability experience?
Raceable?

Greetings, Cannon

[wingman24]

air isn't the best option "YET'', give it time, stick with your Coil over for now. And fox has been having some issues with the shock getting stuck down, i'd steer clear for the time being. DIRT had an article a couple issues back about coil vs air, and even chris from mojo said it's not really the best option and that there are still alot of bugs that haveto be worked out before air shocks will react with the same fluidity and plushness as a coil shock, problems assosiated with the mid-stroke damping.

[wood-dog]

Read the reviews on MTBR.com about the Fox DHX Air, it is not getting high ratings at all! Apparently Fox is having alot of issues with the seals they are using for the DHX Air. People are reporting that they get in a couple of rides and then loose all of the air and the shock is then unable to hold a charge so the ownes of the shock will send it in to Fox to get it repaired. Some people get their shocks back and they work fine while others get theirs back and the seals blow again. So Fox is having a time with this one, however I am sure they will get the problem fixed soon enough. In the meantime, let other people be the guinea pigs before you pick one up!

[zmtber]

i wouldn't say that is entirley true, i have riden mine for a long time, without any problems at al except the dust cap falling off. however all i do is trail riding and some races, no freeriding or big hit stuff at all. so what i am trying to say is that it all depends on what you are doing and youtr riding style. in my opinion fox takes care of their customers, and its easy to service their stuff if you need to. However if you weigh more then 200 lbs it might not be the best fork for your, because when you put the air pressure that hight it makes the shock feel really stiff and like ****. i have mine at 160-170 psi and my friend who weights 200 lbs can go completly through the travel with just bouncing up and down on my bike.

[Transcend]

if you weigh more then 200 lbs it might not be the best fork for your, because when you put the air pressure that hight it makes the shock feel really stiff and like ****.

It's not a fork.

[maxyedor]

It's not a fork.
Valid point there. Zmtbr take note. As far as the seels I am under the impression that they fail in cold weather.

[Bldr_DH]

i wouldn't say that is entirley true, i have riden mine for a long time, without any problems at al except the dust cap falling off. however all i do is trail riding and some races, no freeriding or big hit stuff at all. so what i am trying to say is that it all depends on what you are doing and youtr riding style. in my opinion fox takes care of their customers, and its easy to service their stuff if you need to. However if you weigh more then 200 lbs it might not be the best fork for your, because when you put the air pressure that hight it makes the shock feel really stiff and like ****. i have mine at 160-170 psi and my friend who weights 200 lbs can go completly through the travel with just bouncing up and down on my bike.

*Kaslap!*

[Sir_Crackien]

i have never been a fan of fox (i have my reasons as well). but to compare honestly i think the other companies out there have a big jump on them when it comes to air rear shocks. the new rockshox's line-up is killer (have one right now and loving it). also manituo has had very good luck with their air rear shocks as well. both companies this year have also bumped up the amount of stroke avalible in their air rear shocks.

you might want to look into them.

btw the rockshox preal is very light and is design just for dh and fr riding.

one last note is that went rockshox claimed low air pressure i was like "yeah right" but it is true. i only have to run 130 psi on a bike with a 3-1 leverage ratio and normally i have to run 250 with the same leverage ratio. i don't know what they did but it really worked for them

[MOTODH]

i have never been a fan of fox (i have my reasons as well). but to compare honestly i think the other companies out there have a big jump on them when it comes to air rear shocks. the new rockshox's line-up is killer (have one right now and loving it). also manituo has had very good luck with their air rear shocks as well. both companies this year have also bumped up the amount of stroke avalible in their air rear shocks.

you might want to look into them.

btw the rockshox preal is very light and is design just for dh and fr riding.

one last note is that went rockshox claimed low air pressure i was like "yeah right" but it is true. i only have to run 130 psi on a bike with a 3-1 leverage ratio and normally i have to run 250 with the same leverage ratio. i don't know what they did but it really worked for them


I also think the new RS line up looks very impressive, however isn't the pearl more all mountain oriented?

[julian_dh]

ive been riding mine hard these past few spring weeks sometimes in super cold temps. ive had a stuck down shock once and was able to fix it myself in ten minutes its held up pretty well so far but the true test will be how it holds up to a full riding season.

also using a bit of heavy grease in the main chamger makes the shock ramp up better and make the mid stroke problems fade.

since it was so linear there was a lack in the mid storke damp and spring, now with the smaller chamber due to the grease. i use no bottom out adjust and i dont have much mid stroke problems.

[bballe336]

i have never been a fan of fox (i have my reasons as well). but to compare honestly i think the other companies out there have a big jump on them when it comes to air rear shocks. the new rockshox's line-up is killer (have one right now and loving it). also manituo has had very good luck with their air rear shocks as well. both companies this year have also bumped up the amount of stroke avalible in their air rear shocks.

you might want to look into them.

btw the rockshox preal is very light and is design just for dh and fr riding.

one last note is that went rockshox claimed low air pressure i was like "yeah right" but it is true. i only have to run 130 psi on a bike with a 3-1 leverage ratio and normally i have to run 250 with the same leverage ratio. i don't know what they did but it really worked for them

The RS pearl is an All-Mountain shock. It is not intended to be used for DH or FR. And Manitou's air shock (swinger 4 way air) is designed to be used for trail riding, and MTX/4X/slalom. The only real DH air shock is the Fox DHX and it doesn't even work properly. I would wait a couple years before buying an airshock for DH.

[punkassean]

The DHX air is a great shock for lighter smoother riders. Yes a coil feels better to an extent but also having a light bike feels better to a similar extent. Fox offers both air and coil because everyone has different priorities/preferences.

I really like the DHX air for the riding I do which is true all-mtn or freeriding. I do LOTS of climbing and LOTS of downhilling. I've had the shock for almost a year now and it works great. If I were competitively racing DH I'd probably run a Ti DHX coil. With that said I've run super rocky 15-20 minute DH trails here in SB countless times and the DHX air hasn't let me down yet. IT doesn't fade and it doesn't fail.

[Bicyclist]

5th Element has the Gravity too, I rode one for a few weeks and it worked great. (I was just demo-ing the bike, but it still has that shock after almost a year).

[jackalope]

Btw, what is meant by a shock "fading"? Is this like heating up and getting sticky??

[Bicyclist]

When the oil gets hot and flows too easily so it's under-damped.

[Kanter]

Every DHX air through our LBS has been sent back to Fox. They have all become stuck after being pushed down.

[Sir_Crackien]

the preal is as all mountian as the boxxer ride and pike are. many of the shock we have riden are not designed for dh (fox RC). if its such an all monutain shock then why does is come in a 8.75x2.6" version i can't think of one all mountian bike that comes with that size shock. also the pearl share simular dimensions as the dhx air but with out the seal problems.

[trailhacker]

I would wait a couple years before buying an airshock for DH.
In '96 I was running a Fox Alps 4 on my Foes LTS and never had a problem with it. The kid that bought the bike from me sold the frame with out ever having problems with it.
Fox might be having issues with some of the first batches going out but with the feedback (returns) coming back to them I'm sure they will get it figured out pretty quick.
I am running a DHX air on my 6-pack but it is only used for a trail bike. Only been on two real rides on it.
I would think that with the shorter nature of a DH run fading wouldn't be an issue. Unless your DH runs start getting in the 8 minute plus range?

[nvd]

Durango bike shop owner Cliff Pinto has been running a DHX Air on his Intense M-3 for over a year now with no problems. He's a solid semi-pro downhiller who rides hard everyday. For more freeride/big hit stuff like Canyonlands, Silverton or Telluride he switches to a DHX with Ti spring, but always races with the air shock. I think the key is how much you weigh and how smooth you are. If your light and smooth go for it. If your heavy and choppy get the coil over.

[zedro]

i only have to run 130 psi on a bike with a 3-1 leverage ratio and normally i have to run 250 with the same leverage ratio. i don't know what they did but it really worked for them

bigger can is the only way to do it. Force = Pressure * piston Area. More area gives more (spring) force for the same amount of pressure.

[Bicyclist]

bigger can is the only way to do it. Force = Pressure * piston Area. More area gives more (spring) force for the same amount of pressure.


Could they also overdamp it to achieve a samilar effect, or would that just make the compression slower?

[Sir_Crackien]

the shock is not over dampened i can tell you that. the only reason i commented on the pressure thing is that the can looks kinda big but not nearly enough to drop the pressure that much. i was just more so giving the idea of how low the pressure in these things can be. me running 130psi and i'm a 250lbs person.

bicyclist yuor are right to a point in the fact that over dampening the compression will not just you as much sag but only when you are on rough terrain that can take advantage of that effect (think spv)

the mc3/preal just have a platform system that uses the compression to stop pedal induced suspension to a point but if will not change your effective sag (which is nice). the system can also be turned competely off and it will be fully active (which feels weird now-a-days). it is honestly a good working system that is very adjustable.

[zedro]

Could they also overdamp it to achieve a samilar effect, or would that just make the compression slower?

no, because you still need to achieve proper sag regardless; you cannot take the spring out of the equation. It's not a big deal, the change in pressure is squared to the increase in diameter, in other words twice the diameter equals four times the pressure; so you dont need to increase the shock size all that much to get results.

[punkassean]

the preal is as all mountian as the boxxer ride and pike are. many of the shock we have riden are not designed for dh (fox RC). if its such an all monutain shock then why does is come in a 8.75x2.6" version i can't think of one all mountian bike that comes with that size shock. also the pearl share simular dimensions as the dhx air but with out the seal problems.

The new Enduro uses that size shock (8.75x2.5"), it doesn't get much more all-mtn than that....

[konastab01]

Do you guys think that the DHX Air shock will be suitable for a 140lbs rider????

[1soulrider]

I've been running a DHX air on my Nomad for four or five months now with no issues. It has never faded or pumped up on me. I weigh about 160 and ride rocky trails with decent length decents. I have run it down the Downieville dh trail as well. It has it's performance quirks, but I havn't run a coil on the Nomad yet to really isolate what the air does differently (on the same bike)

[zmtber]

Do you guys think that the DHX Air shock will be suitable for a 140lbs rider????

yes im 165 and i love it, but it all really depends on your ridng style

[Curb Hucker]

It was explained to me by the guys at push why my DHX air felt like ass. The compression damping on a DHX air is only existant in the first 1/2 of the stroke of the shock. They rely on air pressure of the compressing shock to take care of the compression on the 2nd half of the stroke. This is why the shock feels like it drops out from under you, there is no compression circuit to control the 2nd half of the travel. This is also why I could not have mine at a pressure where it was anywhere near small bump compliant and not have it bottom out like crazy.

[konastab01]

So do Push make any upgrades for the Air yet?????

[zedro]

So do Push make any upgrades for the Air yet?????

no, and they arent doing any for the DHX yet either, well until march they say. Check out http://www.pushindustries.com

[konastab01]

cheers Zedro

[pdawg]

The DHX air is a great shock for lighter smoother riders. Yes a coil feels better to an extent but also having a light bike feels better to a similar extent. Fox offers both air and coil because everyone has different priorities/preferences.

I really like the DHX air for the riding I do which is true all-mtn or freeriding. I do LOTS of climbing and LOTS of downhilling. I've had the shock for almost a year now and it works great. If I were competitively racing DH I'd probably run a Ti DHX coil. With that said I've run super rocky 15-20 minute DH trails here in SB countless times and the DHX air hasn't let me down yet. IT doesn't fade and it doesn't fail.
Just curious, which bike are you using this DHX Air on and at what psi? I thought to drop some weight off my '05 Coiler D for trailriding. Straight out of the box the shock needed almost 250 psi just to get the recommended sag. For a 165 pound rider like myself seems a bit much. Otherwise, have to agree that I also like this shock... it is quite supple and soaks up the bumps nicely.

However, for longer rides I will keep an old Float R shock in my camelbak just in case the shock does get stuck. :-)

[Duzitall]

I thought to drop some weight off my '05 Coiler D for trailriding. However, for longer rides I will keep an old Float R shock in my camelbak just in case the shock does get stuck. :-)

How can you drop weight if you carry a spare shock on your back?

[pdawg]

How can you drop weight if you carry a spare shock on your back?
Good point. To afford the extra weight penalty I may have to use carbonated water in my Camelbak, wear carbon fiber shoes, and not carry any tools.... kidding. :rofl: