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The 2008 DHX Air has improvements over the 2007 model ( we
had both shocks to use in our donor bike ) the most obvious upgrade on the
08 model is the two position propedal lever, on or off with a 90 degree
rotation of the lever, simple to use and most likely forgotten about, as
the exhilaration of the actual riding blows good intensions of flicking
levers to suit trail conditions.
Once it was my turn on the bike with the 08 Fox, and I had
established the propedal lever did what was intended I chose to divide
ride time equally between the two lever positions, I consider my route
varied enough, from laps of the jump park, off up the road to the trail
head, climb/walk to the top of my DH run, catch a breath while taking in
the views, quick inspection of the component under scrutiny and off down
the track with two things on the mind…staying on, and just what is that
shock doing ? do this a couple of times and I’m stuffed before lunch, not
too mention I’ve left my test rides/evaluation of the Fox a little late
and I’ll be spending the afternoon riding the Fox again too…what a
bummer.
A few of us are sitting around the lunch table ( imagine
grubby bikers, bikes, coffee and sarnies situated in the shade of a
grapefruit tree ) we all agree the 08 DHX air appears to have nicer feel,
it does feel more supple compared to the 07 version, even the propedal
feels tuned and allows a little more sensitivity on small bumps at low
speed while still retaining some effect on rider induced movement on the
rear suspension, not all suspension designs are the same so broad minded
thinking here. We never have complaint of Fox damping,
it works and does what is intended, I believe Fox went out of their way in
order to find a suitable design that contributes to pedal efficiency and
with out effecting the role of a shimmed damper piston.
My conclusion from a days riding, ( yea I know not enough,
but sufficient ) is that the Fox DHX air shock is a light weight package
that performs well, with or with out propedal, the deliberate intensions
of riding the downs with the propedal switched on proved the blow off
valves efficiency, apart from minor distractions in the feel of the rear
suspension the shock works just as well at high speed if the rider
inadvertently leaves the PP lever on, which is gonna happen if you’re
serious about riding on the day…after all, high tech suspension shouldn’t
have to be switched on or off, it should be suitable suspension full
stop.
Note: The 2008 DHX suffered from aerated damper oil and
required an oil change, which inevitably requires a complete strip down of
the shock, its disappointing to see the emulsified fluid pour from the
disassembled internals of an expensive shock such as this. Upon servicing
the unit I also noted the large air cavity behind the IFP ( internal
floating piston ) and changes were made accordingly, there’s two
advantages to setting the IFP in the correct position, the bottom out
feature works more efficiently and there’s a little more room for added
oil volume.
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