FORUM HOTSEAT - MRP

5/14/2020 1:14pm
bturman wrote:
Lol Bryn. Noah, how do you guys come up with technology names? CHOCOLUXE cracks me up! Related, what does a 37% reduction in fork friction feel...
Lol Bryn.


Noah, how do you guys come up with technology names? CHOCOLUXE cracks me up!

Related, what does a 37% reduction in fork friction feel like on the trail?

For the person who isn't aware, what can adjusting the negative pressure on one of your forks do? When might you want to increase or decrease it relative to the positive pressure?

Are fork sales in general pointing toward a mass transfer to shorter offsets?

Which parts of Elka's shock technology does MRP still use today?

How has coronavirus impacted the business? Any unexpected positives?

Hope the crew is well!
Re: names, I just kinda throw them out there. With Chocoluxe, the material we use is brown, and in internal testing, employees were talking about getting the "chocolate" upgrade -- "hey man, you got any of that chocolate new-new?" Had to put a little spin on just calling it "chocolate," so, voila ChocoLUXE™.

A big reduction in overall friction like we were able to achieve, in part, with Chocoluxe can manifest in a few ways. Most obviously, the fork just "feels" better in the parking lot. There's no stick-slip in the stroke, it feels smooth and predictable. You notice that on the trail as the fork moving smoothly around the sag point, not sticking at it. When climbing, you notice it effortlessly tracking over irregularities like small ledges and rocks. It's that feeling of the wheels moving underneath you to the contours of the trail while you and your mass stay calm. This yields better performance, obviously, but also greater comfort and reduced fatigue.

Friction plays such a huge role in suspension performance that its influence can't be overestimated. I think people kinda get hung up on the intricacies of damper or spring tech without realizing that if your fork (or shock) isn't moving freely to begin with, those details are just about irrelevant. We are constantly looking at ways to eek out even little reductions in friction, and we look closely at out-the-door numbers and after use.

As for our air spring arrangement, yes, we give users the ability to independent adjust positive and negative pressures (whereas as most competing products have self-equalizing springs). We think this has a few big advantages. For one, you can dictate how supple the top of the stroke is. More negative pressure will allow the fork to compress more easily in the initial part of travel. Why not just make it as supple as possible? Well, for instance, you could pair a lower positive-negative pressure differential (something like 3-5psi more in the negative vs. positive) with a lower pressure overall to give you a fork that has a plush overall stroke, but is supportive off the top. Conversely, and the way I like to do it, is a fork with a firmer overall rate (higher pressure) but really buttery initial stroke (in this case, I'd do 7-10 psi more in the negative). Basically, there's more to experiment with besides just more or less pressure (with other air springs).

As well, we're big proponents of running slightly more pressure in the negative than the positive chambers -- simply not possible with self-equalizing systems. The positive pressure acts on a slightly larger surface area (the full area of the air piston) than the negative pressure, which acts on the area of the piston minus the sectional area of the piston rod. Therefore the negative pressure will need to be a bit higher than positive to balance it. That balance point is the buttery, coil-like suppleness people really love, where there's no resistance to initialing travel.

Re: offsets, until a few years ago, no one was really offering offset options, so of course theres been an increase in demand for shorter offsets. But, the very shortest offsets we offer (39mm for 27.5" and 41mm for 29") are not our bestsellers. That could be in part because they're a little more moolah (we machine in-house vs. the others being forgings). I generally advise people to stick to their frame manufacturers recommendations, and I think there's a range of about +/-3mm in offset variation that would been indiscernible to 98% of riders. I try to politely caution people that while in some cases a short offset might be the "performance" option, that's not necessarily what someone might want for a recreational application. For instance, a quicker steering bike takes less attention to ride (some of us just want to go out and cruise) and if it's not the bike's capabilities holding us back in regards to cornering or descending, what's the point?

As for me, for 29" we offer 41, 46, and 51mm for our single-crown forks, I like 46mm.

The ELKA DNA is definitely still there in the Hazzard. We've made what we consider refinements over the years, but the guts remain extremely similar.

Upsides to Corona? People that know me know I'm pretty dang cheery and positive, but it's a pretty crap situation. That said, there are some positives. As a company, our teams are working more efficiently than ever. The cancelation of events removes the pressure to show or debut a product on someone else's schedule, that's nice. Without giving too much away, we also took at value-added services we can provide to deliver a better customer experience and demystify things like suspension setup and tuning.
2
5/14/2020 1:25pm
Nobility wrote:
First off: Great job on the Hazzard! Best shock I ever had on a bike For a new build I am considering the Bartlett. However I...
First off: Great job on the Hazzard! Best shock I ever had on a bike

For a new build I am considering the Bartlett. However I haven`t been able to find any reviews yet. Is there a coil version in the works like the ribbon? What is the reason to only have an air spring?
Rad, glad you love it!

Get a Bartlett, they're awesome! Hope to get some reviews in the future. FWIW, it is effectively a Ribbon dual-crown, so I believe the reviews for that product crossover. Obviously it adds that second crown, which greatly increases stiffness - hard to imagine any critiques on that. It's also more adjustable, given that get both Ramp Control AND Huck Pucks.

No coil version planned at this time, for none other than practical reasons: that would require a big investment in springs.



Nobility
Posts
2
Joined
7/26/2014
Location
NL
5/14/2020 1:33pm
Nobility wrote:
First off: Great job on the Hazzard! Best shock I ever had on a bike For a new build I am considering the Bartlett. However I...
First off: Great job on the Hazzard! Best shock I ever had on a bike

For a new build I am considering the Bartlett. However I haven`t been able to find any reviews yet. Is there a coil version in the works like the ribbon? What is the reason to only have an air spring?
Rad, glad you love it! Get a Bartlett, they're awesome! Hope to get some reviews in the future. FWIW, it is effectively a Ribbon dual-crown, so...
Rad, glad you love it!

Get a Bartlett, they're awesome! Hope to get some reviews in the future. FWIW, it is effectively a Ribbon dual-crown, so I believe the reviews for that product crossover. Obviously it adds that second crown, which greatly increases stiffness - hard to imagine any critiques on that. It's also more adjustable, given that get both Ramp Control AND Huck Pucks.

No coil version planned at this time, for none other than practical reasons: that would require a big investment in springs.



Awesome! thank you, sounds like I`ll be pulling the trigger soon.

And sorry for the downvote, that was supposed to be an upvote

Keep making cool shit!
5/14/2020 1:33pm
NelisB wrote:
A bit more bike specific question. I'm running a 2017 Transition Patrol with a metric 230*65 coil shock. The bike has a pretty linear linkage. Would...
A bit more bike specific question. I'm running a 2017 Transition Patrol with a metric 230*65 coil shock. The bike has a pretty linear linkage. Would this be a ideal bike to use a progressive spring on? And do I need to have the same springrate spring as I have now? Or can I go lighter a bit because of the progressiveness of the spring?
That might be better question for Samsquatch (above), he knows more than I do about that frame specifically. FWIW, it seems like a great match for the Progressive spring and a co-worker has that exact vintage Patrol with a Hazzard and Progressive spring, and loves it.

Re: spring rate. You want to use a spring calculator like the one on our site to determine that. You don't want to reduce the rate simply because it's progressive. The way we label our springs is by what their closest linear-spring equivalent is around the sag point. So, at around 25-33% of compression, the Progressive 400+ will look most like a 400lb linear spring in terms of the force requirement. It's not exact, but it's close. What does that mean? Same bike, same rider, same shock, a 400+ progressive will sag the same amount as a 400lb linear spring. But it firms up (comparatively) beyond that point.
1
5/14/2020 2:28pm
This one is kinda irrelevant now, but will you ever offer a Specialized direct mount? Ive talked to a few suspension mechanics and they have all raved about the hazard. I have a 216x57 direct mount Float X2 and Monarch plus for my '19 Sworks enduro, and would love to get a coil for bike park days. I just can't justify spending $900 on an ohlins damper alone then an extra $150 on a spring that will be the wrong weight.
5/14/2020 2:29pm
Prophet26 wrote:
How would a Hazzard with a progressive spring work on a regressive single pivot? At all? Or no chance?
Depends. The Progressive springs (if used to 65mm of stroke) have about a 20% progression, so it's by no means makes every bike "coil-friendly." It's really...
Depends. The Progressive springs (if used to 65mm of stroke) have about a 20% progression, so it's by no means makes every bike "coil-friendly." It's really intended for linear to modestly progressive designs.

What bike?
Prophet26 wrote:
A cannondale Prophet. I doubt it since the falling rate suspension goes from 2.6:1 to 3:1. They used to spec fox DHX coils on some models...
A cannondale Prophet. I doubt it since the falling rate suspension goes from 2.6:1 to 3:1.

They used to spec fox DHX coils on some models back in the late 00s when this model was new.

I've got a frame I upgraded to all modern parts including a 27.5 conversion. Just a thought to go coil. Air works fine.
The Prophet is a classic. IIRC, it has a 200x51mm shock, so I don't think you're gonna be able to squeeze a progressive spring on a coil shock that size, unfortunately.
5/14/2020 2:31pm
This one is kinda irrelevant now, but will you ever offer a Specialized direct mount? Ive talked to a few suspension mechanics and they have all...
This one is kinda irrelevant now, but will you ever offer a Specialized direct mount? Ive talked to a few suspension mechanics and they have all raved about the hazard. I have a 216x57 direct mount Float X2 and Monarch plus for my '19 Sworks enduro, and would love to get a coil for bike park days. I just can't justify spending $900 on an ohlins damper alone then an extra $150 on a spring that will be the wrong weight.
Hmmm. Maybe we'll look into that. Thanks for the suggestion!
sspomer
Posts
4283
Joined
6/26/2009
Location
Boise, ID US
5/14/2020 2:43pm
Thanks MRP, Noah and all who participated! Tons of great insight and info.

This forum hotseat is now officially closed, but we have a feeling Noah will get back to answer some other questions left here over time. YEW!


1
5/14/2020 3:05pm
TEAMROBOT wrote:
Ramp Control- I've never understood this product. How is this better than position-sensitive tokens on your spring and to and speed-sensitive high-speed damping? For instance, I'm...
Ramp Control- I've never understood this product. How is this better than position-sensitive tokens on your spring and to and speed-sensitive high-speed damping?

For instance, I'm running my HSC relatively open to keep my fork supple on high-speed chatter and I'm running tokens to prevent harsh bottom outs and excessive fork dive in steep/nasty stuff. How would a speed-sensitive Ramp Control cartridge on my spring be a better system?

For reference, I'm a big, heavy, formerly fast racer. BTW loving my SxG chainguide! The bottom chain retainer piece is brilliant. Has prevented 100% of chain drops but with no resistance on the chain.
Hello Chaz,

Good question. There are a couple benefits to the Ramp Control systems that I think beat tuning with volume alone, but it should be noted that with our Ramp Control Pro cartridges, you can can have both.

For one, tuning with tokens is a "in the workshop" thing, whereas Ramp Control can be adjusted via dial. So, if it's a competition, Ramp Control wins on convenience.

Second, there is some volume reduction that happens just by installing the cartridge, so it's providing some of the benefit of tokens plus added external adjustability.

Third, sometimes heavier riders are forced to cram the maximum amount of tokens into their air-springs simply to get the bottom-out support they need. This comes at the expense of the ride quality in, say, the other 2/3 of the stroke. There's a reason people refer to "coil-like feel" as a good thing, and a low-volume air-spring is essentially the opposite (flat, then steeply progressive). You end up sitting in or close to the progressive part of the stroke on these setups. With the spring curve being ambivalent to stroke speed, this can make for a front end that fights you on technical climbs or traverses (where shaft speeds are lower). It's neither a comfortable, nor performance-oriented setup.

With Ramp Control, you maintain most of your spring volume, so the baseline spring curve is more linear. This makes for a plusher ride at lower speeds (shaft speeds and typically RIDER speeds), but the speed-sensitive nature of the Ramp Up effect provides further support when needed -- and, again, you can dictate how much via the dial.

As for how it could help you in particular. Firstly, it will make you more likable. Secondly, and I'm gonna guess you have a Fox 36, it might give you yet another tuning option. Like I started with, if you do have a 36, you could actually get the Ramp Control PRO model and keep your spring volume similar to what it is now (with our Huck Pucks threaded onto the cartridge bottom), but add the Ramp Control adjustability. As a result, you'd likely be able to reduce your HSC further, as some of that burden could be taken by the Ramp Control function. Why would that be good? Well, there are some advantages to using air as the damping fluid for high-speed damping over oil. For one, air is infinitely compressible, so it never creates a spike.
2
5/14/2020 5:24pm
Hey Noah, I'm waiting (corona shipping speed) on a progressive spring, and this - "Furthermore, our Progressive springs have a max stroke of 65mm, so if you're using them on 50 or 52.5mm stroke shocks, you're actually missing a bit of the progressive effect." - hadn't occurred to me.
Fingers crossed I'll get the benefit with my 200x57 shock...
Prophet26
Posts
17
Joined
3/5/2016
Location
Quakertown, PA US
5/14/2020 11:44pm
Depends. The Progressive springs (if used to 65mm of stroke) have about a 20% progression, so it's by no means makes every bike "coil-friendly." It's really...
Depends. The Progressive springs (if used to 65mm of stroke) have about a 20% progression, so it's by no means makes every bike "coil-friendly." It's really intended for linear to modestly progressive designs.

What bike?
Prophet26 wrote:
A cannondale Prophet. I doubt it since the falling rate suspension goes from 2.6:1 to 3:1. They used to spec fox DHX coils on some models...
A cannondale Prophet. I doubt it since the falling rate suspension goes from 2.6:1 to 3:1.

They used to spec fox DHX coils on some models back in the late 00s when this model was new.

I've got a frame I upgraded to all modern parts including a 27.5 conversion. Just a thought to go coil. Air works fine.
The Prophet is a classic. IIRC, it has a 200x51mm shock, so I don't think you're gonna be able to squeeze a progressive spring on a...
The Prophet is a classic. IIRC, it has a 200x51mm shock, so I don't think you're gonna be able to squeeze a progressive spring on a coil shock that size, unfortunately.
Thanks. It's a lost cause I'm sure, but...there's a somewhat common mod to replace the stock 200x51 with a 200x57 and get 160mm travel. You lose the lower HA adjust shock mount option but my current 150mm fork would make up for it. That mod makes more sense with a Prophet MX frame which is cleared for 570mm a2c. So 170/160 with 27.5 wheels and a sky high bb. So now you might see why I was so interested in coil. If I ever find a Prophet MX frame...

Why bother with an old classic? Why not? I like the ride and I like tinkering.
5/15/2020 9:01am
Hey Noah, I'm waiting (corona shipping speed) on a progressive spring, and this - "Furthermore, our Progressive springs have a max stroke of 65mm, so if...
Hey Noah, I'm waiting (corona shipping speed) on a progressive spring, and this - "Furthermore, our Progressive springs have a max stroke of 65mm, so if you're using them on 50 or 52.5mm stroke shocks, you're actually missing a bit of the progressive effect." - hadn't occurred to me.
Fingers crossed I'll get the benefit with my 200x57 shock...
57mm stroke shocks get most of the benefit. It varies a little depending on the specific spring rate, but looking at a 500+, for example, it requires 19% more force to compress to 57mm than a 500lb linear spring. On a 50 or 51mm stroke shock, this spring only requires about 14-15% more force to get to bottom-out vs. a linear spring.

It's at about 20mm of compression that the progressive spring curves start to diverge from their linear equivalents. And the further you move to the right on that curve, the bigger the separation.


5/15/2020 8:13pm
Re: names, I just kinda throw them out there. With Chocoluxe, the material we use is brown, and in internal testing, employees were talking about getting...
Re: names, I just kinda throw them out there. With Chocoluxe, the material we use is brown, and in internal testing, employees were talking about getting the "chocolate" upgrade -- "hey man, you got any of that chocolate new-new?" Had to put a little spin on just calling it "chocolate," so, voila ChocoLUXE™.

A big reduction in overall friction like we were able to achieve, in part, with Chocoluxe can manifest in a few ways. Most obviously, the fork just "feels" better in the parking lot. There's no stick-slip in the stroke, it feels smooth and predictable. You notice that on the trail as the fork moving smoothly around the sag point, not sticking at it. When climbing, you notice it effortlessly tracking over irregularities like small ledges and rocks. It's that feeling of the wheels moving underneath you to the contours of the trail while you and your mass stay calm. This yields better performance, obviously, but also greater comfort and reduced fatigue.

Friction plays such a huge role in suspension performance that its influence can't be overestimated. I think people kinda get hung up on the intricacies of damper or spring tech without realizing that if your fork (or shock) isn't moving freely to begin with, those details are just about irrelevant. We are constantly looking at ways to eek out even little reductions in friction, and we look closely at out-the-door numbers and after use.

As for our air spring arrangement, yes, we give users the ability to independent adjust positive and negative pressures (whereas as most competing products have self-equalizing springs). We think this has a few big advantages. For one, you can dictate how supple the top of the stroke is. More negative pressure will allow the fork to compress more easily in the initial part of travel. Why not just make it as supple as possible? Well, for instance, you could pair a lower positive-negative pressure differential (something like 3-5psi more in the negative vs. positive) with a lower pressure overall to give you a fork that has a plush overall stroke, but is supportive off the top. Conversely, and the way I like to do it, is a fork with a firmer overall rate (higher pressure) but really buttery initial stroke (in this case, I'd do 7-10 psi more in the negative). Basically, there's more to experiment with besides just more or less pressure (with other air springs).

As well, we're big proponents of running slightly more pressure in the negative than the positive chambers -- simply not possible with self-equalizing systems. The positive pressure acts on a slightly larger surface area (the full area of the air piston) than the negative pressure, which acts on the area of the piston minus the sectional area of the piston rod. Therefore the negative pressure will need to be a bit higher than positive to balance it. That balance point is the buttery, coil-like suppleness people really love, where there's no resistance to initialing travel.

Re: offsets, until a few years ago, no one was really offering offset options, so of course theres been an increase in demand for shorter offsets. But, the very shortest offsets we offer (39mm for 27.5" and 41mm for 29") are not our bestsellers. That could be in part because they're a little more moolah (we machine in-house vs. the others being forgings). I generally advise people to stick to their frame manufacturers recommendations, and I think there's a range of about +/-3mm in offset variation that would been indiscernible to 98% of riders. I try to politely caution people that while in some cases a short offset might be the "performance" option, that's not necessarily what someone might want for a recreational application. For instance, a quicker steering bike takes less attention to ride (some of us just want to go out and cruise) and if it's not the bike's capabilities holding us back in regards to cornering or descending, what's the point?

As for me, for 29" we offer 41, 46, and 51mm for our single-crown forks, I like 46mm.

The ELKA DNA is definitely still there in the Hazzard. We've made what we consider refinements over the years, but the guts remain extremely similar.

Upsides to Corona? People that know me know I'm pretty dang cheery and positive, but it's a pretty crap situation. That said, there are some positives. As a company, our teams are working more efficiently than ever. The cancelation of events removes the pressure to show or debut a product on someone else's schedule, that's nice. Without giving too much away, we also took at value-added services we can provide to deliver a better customer experience and demystify things like suspension setup and tuning.
Could not agree more with the comment on friction
1
orudne
Posts
1
Joined
5/14/2020
Location
DE
5/17/2020 3:33am
bturman wrote:
Lol Bryn. Noah, how do you guys come up with technology names? CHOCOLUXE cracks me up! Related, what does a 37% reduction in fork friction feel...
Lol Bryn.


Noah, how do you guys come up with technology names? CHOCOLUXE cracks me up!

Related, what does a 37% reduction in fork friction feel like on the trail?

For the person who isn't aware, what can adjusting the negative pressure on one of your forks do? When might you want to increase or decrease it relative to the positive pressure?

Are fork sales in general pointing toward a mass transfer to shorter offsets?

Which parts of Elka's shock technology does MRP still use today?

How has coronavirus impacted the business? Any unexpected positives?

Hope the crew is well!
I had my Ribbon Coil updated with the ChockLuxe Parts.

Now it feels like there is a lighter weight oil in the damper unit (I asked the workshop, they used the same oil weight).
I had to add one click compression and two clicks rebound.

Don’t know if it’s 37,5 percent less friction now and I only had two runs in muddy conditions, but it feels better now (and was good before!)
1
eeyore2012
Posts
2
Joined
5/17/2020
Location
Mills River, NC US
5/17/2020 6:26am
day(s) late and dollar(s) short. cant believe an ask me anything and no questions about the Jackson!!!!

Can you give us any insight about the Jackson, mainly how awesome itll be and when we can buy it?!?!?!????

thanks Love you guys and all your products
Big Bird
Posts
2138
Joined
2/1/2011
Location
Oceano, CA US
6/17/2020 5:00pm
I saw another post on this link and was ready to disappoint someone by telling them that they were just a bit late. Nice follow through.
Big Bird
Posts
2138
Joined
2/1/2011
Location
Oceano, CA US
6/17/2020 5:13pm
That video just reminded me how fun it is to press in a steer tube. I used to do it in the moto world and it's amazing to see something that you've made with just the right interference fit settle solidly into place. Job satisfaction at it's finest. I did also make my own 7075 steer tube for a carbon Manitou Supernova.
1
eeyore2012
Posts
2
Joined
5/17/2020
Location
Mills River, NC US
6/27/2020 6:11am
I'm happy to answer any new questions about "Ready to Shred" too!

when will the Jackson be ready to shred?!? im holding off ona new bike build for this shock.........

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