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...and here I thought all the conspiracy idiots were busy storming the capital building?
My guess is you have not ridden a bike with a newer air fork. They have come along way.
WP even produces an Xact Pro fork on par with a cone valve unit now.
https://www.wp-suspension.com/procomponents/offroad/xact-pro-7443/
It was Funny and likely too true.
But, I'm docking you a 2 beer penalty in the name of unity.
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
https://www.wp-suspension.com/en-us/offroad/
While springs ramp up in a more linear fashion compared to the J-curve affect of air when it's compressed, make no mistake that those forces can be managed through smart engineering. For those who thing air forks cannot feel as good as spring forks, you are mistaken and it's highly plausible WP Xact air forks will surpass the performance of the SSS forks in the next couple of years.
It's a matter of basic physics.
The AER forks are better than most of us, definitely not holding me back. Plus it takes minutes to setup a bike for another rider.
On the trials its nice light front end to lift over sfuff
I just bought a set of Luckies.
They are lighter and offer a lot more adjustment
Most championships have been on air forks.
They just need to develop that quality for average guys
Ping's Vital "GasGas" intro from a few weeks ago gives what I feel is a "spot on" description of the GasGas "feel"...to me the GasGas feels like a KTM with VERY expensive X-Trigs.
Also, there's a video around here where Jay Clark takes the new forks apart at WP and he and a WP tech go over the changes of the new fork...and the Tech tries to convince Jay that you NEVER run "low pressure"...which EVERYONE should know...but...well...go watch the video. It's excellent.
Why? Because, over the years I'm sure I'm 10mm shorter...or...shorter than that! And, when I build my bike with the shorter set-up...I'm in good company!
Btw, JB has made a set of my 4CS forks work like CVs (The forks on my '15 FE350S). The dude is AMAZING.
How do you control temperature rise and pressure change and therefore improve the consistency of the air spring?
How can you do get a more linear characteristic from an air spring without going overboard on multiple chambers and so on?
Metal springs are replaced with air springs for weight and cost savings but not for performance. And don‘t get me wrong: I have the AER fork on my bike and like it a lot.
Pit Row
I am interested to get your opinion on the lowered bike design since you do more than moto. I have read mostly pro and a few con's on the subject.
What difference does it make where I’m from?
Crazy that the difference between my OEM showa air forks and the a-kit Showa air forks is that the pressures in the A-kit forks barely ever changes.
Temp/pressure rise is a problem with air springs for the general user. That’s why it’s a good idea to separate the air spring from the damping circuit (like in the AER). Race teams can use nitrogen (pressure doesn‘t change as much with temperature) or warm up the forks before a session. I do a few warmup laps, then set the pressure in my forks and never a problem with. However I‘m not very fast and only ride for 15 mins.
I was speaking about suspension performance only. If weight, adjustability and very progressive suspension characteristic (like it mx bikes and bicycles) is important for the overall performance of the bike an air spring can be the better package. But the basic limitations of an air spring don‘t go away, also not with ‚smart engineering‘.
Post a reply to: Barcia trolling us about his forks: Air or Spring