Any reason not to get PUSHed?

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Lee,
I’ll lob you an easy one.

If my shock is overdue for servicing anyways, is there any reason not to have it PUSHed?

I only ask because I have no personal experience with PUSHed shocks and I don’t really know what I should expect with the service.

Thanks for your time!

Matt

Hey Matt,

Oh man, nothing’s easy. Let’s give this a try:

Reasons to get PUSHed

• PUSH Industries does great work.

• If you get their basic service, your shock will work good as new. PUSH says it works better.

• If you get custom tuning, your shock can work better than new. For me, on my 2005 Enduro, PUSH’s high-flow piston gave me a noticeable improvement in my square-hit compliance — compared with the stock tune. Back in 2004 I was riding all the time, and the difference was pretty amazing.

• Extra super duper cool factor. That blue O-ring says it all.

Reasons not to get PUSHed

• A straight-up FOX rebuild is as good as new and, I believe, costs less. FOX has service centers all over the world. Here in Boulder, CO I use Mike Luby at Dirt Labs (and I happily pay full rate).

• Today’s frame/shock setups work well for a wide range of riders. Very few riders need (or would notice) custom tuning. If you are much smaller, bigger, slower or faster than the typical rider, you might be a candidate for custom tuning. That said, most riders I encounter have no freaking idea what their suspension is doing.

• If you need (or want) custom tuning, you can get it from FOX Factory PROTUNE. On the FOX site they say: “You may find your suspension performing better due to proper set-up after going through these three steps. For the majority of FOX owners, this will be all that is required for proper set-up and PROTUNE may not be needed. … If you need further tuning after going through the tutorials, send us your product.” Interesting. FOX says most people do not need custom tuning.

• PUSH is a one-way upgrade. FOX will still work on your shock, but they will charge you to replace PUSH pieces with FOX pieces. I’m not sure how PUSH affects your FOX warranty.

• Racers: I often see the FOX truck in the pits. PUSH does not do race support. When I was at Sea Otter and needed service for my Stumpy shock — BAM! — FOX took care of me.

• Extra super duper cool factor. The PROTUNE stickers say it all.

Never easy.

— Lee

Know more. Have more fun!

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2 replies
  1. Matt says:

    I’m interested in the improvement in square-hit compliance. In gaining that, did you notice any performance loss in other situations? Coming from a demo 7 to a 2006 sx trail, I feel the square-hits are noticeably more harsh, though I’m not sure how much of that is attributed to the different linkage/travel or the way the shocks are tuned.

  2. leelikesbikes says:

    When PUSH put custom valving on my 2005 Enduro (Fox air shock), the bike felt much plusher on successive medium-sized hard hits. PUSH said that was because of increased oil flow.

    I did not notice any performance loss in other situations. This was my first experience with any kind of special tuning.

    Your SX Trail has a Fox DHX or Progressive shock, right? If so, you can do a lot of tuning.

    Also, an SX Trail is not intended to be as plush as a Demo 7.

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