In recent months there’s been a whole load of crystal ball gazing about the future of suspension and the role that electronics have to play in making suspension even more efficient and usable. The precedents exist within car technology, with adaptive, electronically controlled suspension that automatically adjusts damping the conditions being the norm on high end vehicles.
Expecting that sort of weighty, power consuming technology on the humble push bike has been a bit of a reach, the role of electronics generally limited to creating faster or lighter lockout capabilities, an early example being the Cannondale ELO and in recent times, the Fox iCD system. Those with an exceptionally long memory – thanks Matt – might remember the K2 Smart Shock system (pdf link), which used a piezo-electric bypass valve to control the amount of compression damping based on the position of the damping piston.
All that said, it came as a bit of a surprise when Lapierre announced that over the past five years they’ve been working in secrecy with their partners, including Rock Shox, to create what is the first system to take to pedalling and terrain inputs and adaptively change rear suspension settings.
We’ll have a full write up on exactly what it does and how it rides shortly, but in the meantime, here’s Jeremiah Boobar of E.I. Shock’s suspension hardware provider Rock Shox explaining the basics…
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This would last for 10 minutes with me…
Rock Shox….with a Fox fork up front…..great marketing lads….
How do people get jobs in marketing when they are so cr*ap at it….and as above, why a fox on an RS/SRAM product launch…
Jeremiah Boobar? This is made up foolishness, no?
Haaaa, right! Fox fork in the front! A genius of marketing!
That’s part of the beauty of the system – it doesn’t need to use any particular manufacturer’s fork to work, Lapierre just happen to spec Fox forks on their bikes and have the option of an E.I. equipped Monarch on the rear.
Jeremiah is actually the product manager for Rock Shox rather than anything to do with marketing. Regardless, that was the best unscripted and continuous three minute long product chat I’ve seen anyone do for a fair while. It’s a talent 😉
@Jon. Fair enough! Still it doesn’t look too good on Rock Shox to have the competition on the front… kind of weird…
This is for a simple end consumer like me…
The fox shock is pretty hilarious but you need to question why sram haven’t put a rockshox one on i can’t think that they’re just lazy idiot’s they have got to be hiding something big thats going to happen with forks i know they’ve had all shiny new decals but there has got to be something bigger and more awesome coming.
Sram had no choice whether or not a Rockshox fork was used or not – the technology is a combined effort with Lapierre and others , and it’s only for the rear shock and it will be up to Lapierre whether or not they use Rockshox or Fox Suspension on any given model – as Jon said more info to follow .
Pretty simple really, wish I had thought it up!
Great to show what can be done with technology, but I really think this is a step too far. How often do batteries need replacing? What happens when they run out? We all know how temperamental those cadence sensors can be. Sounds like a nightmare to set up, configure and maintain
Kevin1911 – all will be revealed in the full story, up here: Lapierre EI Shock first ride
Waiting for the Maverick owner to come along and say, “Who needs all this fancy gizmology if you have a suspension system that just works.”
Am i right in thinking all the system does is to move the shock between the 3 normal “propedal” modes?
If we are going to all the hassle and compexity of an electronic system with batteries and looms, and connectors and servo motors, I’d want to control the full damping co-efficients in real time, a-la magnetoreheological damping you get in a modern performance car!
banjowhacker said: On July 5, 2012
Jeremiah Boobar? This is made up foolishness, no?
Ha, that’s the blokes real name. He has a handlebar named after him…the Truvativ Boobar!