First Ride: The New EXT Era Fork is Very, Very Promising
EXT's Storia and Arma shocks have developed a legion of loyal fans in the mountain bike world, so it only made sense for the Italian company to take the next step and develop a fork to go along with them.
The Era is the result, an air-sprung fork (a coil version is in the works) that uses EXT's HS3 hybrid air spring. There are 140, 150, 160, and 170mm options, all for 29” wheels.
My 170mm test fork weighed in at 2270 grams, including the thru-axle. Not surprisingly, high-end Italian suspension isn't cheap - the Era retails for €1480.
The Era is the result, an air-sprung fork (a coil version is in the works) that uses EXT's HS3 hybrid air spring. There are 140, 150, 160, and 170mm options, all for 29” wheels.
My 170mm test fork weighed in at 2270 grams, including the thru-axle. Not surprisingly, high-end Italian suspension isn't cheap - the Era retails for €1480.
EXT Era Details
• Intended use: all-mountain / enduro
• Travel: 140, 150, 160, or 170mm
• Wheel size: 29"
• Stanchions: 36mm
• Offset: 44mm
• HS3 hybrid air spring system
• Adjustments: HSC, LSC, rebound, two positive air chambers
• Actual weight: 2270 grams (w/thru-axle)
• MSRP: €1480
• More info: extremeshox.com
• Intended use: all-mountain / enduro
• Travel: 140, 150, 160, or 170mm
• Wheel size: 29"
• Stanchions: 36mm
• Offset: 44mm
• HS3 hybrid air spring system
• Adjustments: HSC, LSC, rebound, two positive air chambers
• Actual weight: 2270 grams (w/thru-axle)
• MSRP: €1480
• More info: extremeshox.com
HS3 Air Spring
Inside the Era's left leg reside two positive air spring chambers, a negative chamber, and a small coil spring to make the fork even more supple. Because the coil spring has less friction to overcome than the air spring before it starts moving, it helps ensure that the initial portion of the fork's travel is very responsive. DT Swiss use a similar concept in their F535 One fork, although the damper and air spring designs of the two forks are very different.
The Era's positive chambers are filled via two Shrader valves on the top of the fork marked + and ++. Personally, I think that labeling them as A & B or 1 & 2 would have been a little less confusing, but maybe that's just me. The + chamber is the larger of the two, and is responsible for the amount of force required to compress the fork through its entire stroke.
As the fork compresses, once a certain pressure is reached the piston that separates the two chambers begins to move and the ++ chamber takes over, handling the mid-stroke support and amount of bottom out resistance.
Getting the fork set up requires inflating the higher pressure ++ chamber first, and then the + chamber. The pressure that's in the ++ chamber needs to be higher than what's in the + chamber in order for everything to work properly.
A second positive air chamber makes it possible to adjust the amount of end stroke ramp up without the use of any volume spacers.
High- and low-speed compression adjustments are found on the top of the right leg.
Damper
On the damper side, the Era has externally adjustable rebound and high- and low-speed compression damping. The exact number of clicks varies slightly due to assembly tolerances, but my test fork has a total of 12 clicks of LSC and 10 clicks of HSC.
The cartridge uses a spring-backed internal floating piston to handle the oil displacement that occurs during compression, and uses a piston that measures 22mm in diameter. EXT went with a larger piston diameter and a larger volume of oil in order to help maintain consistency on long, sustained runs.
The crown extends further up the steerer tube than most forks currently on the market, a design that was chosen to increase stiffness and prevent creaking.
Chassis
EXT worked closely with Mojo Rising to develop a crown that met their stiffness goals. The result is manufactured from forged 7050 T6 aluminum and uses a shape that increases the amount of overlap between the crown and the steerer tube. More overlap should increase stiffness, as well as reduce the likelihood of the fork developing the dreaded 'creaky crown syndrome'.
The Era's bushing design and construction were originally created by EXT for use on World Rally Championship vehicles. They also developed their own oil, and worked with RacingBros to develop the fork's wiper seal.
The quest to create a supremely smooth operating fork didn't stop there, though; EXT also use a proprietary cartridge coating and a finishing process on the fork's steel chromed shafts to ensure there isn't any unwanted stiction.
Initial Impressions
I'm usually not one to gush, but after six solid rides on the Era I'm comfortable saying that I've never ridden a fork that felt this good right out of the box. I've even switched bikes with a couple of riding partners mid-ride so they could experience what I was feeling, and in both instances the general consensus was “that's ridiculous.”
Yes, the “air that feels like a coil” claim has been made multiple times before, but in this case EXT have come incredibly close to mimicking the ultra-sensitive, plush feel of a coil fork, with the ability to tune the end stroke ramp up to prevent harsh bottom outs.
I'm currently running 65 psi in the + chamber and 100 psi in the ++ chamber on the 170mm version, which is a little bit above what EXT recommends for my 160 lb weight. Conditions have been dry and fast lately – I could see dropping the main air chamber pressure for even more traction, but as it is there's been an impressive amount of grip.
It's the ease that the fork initiates its travel that really stands out. Even while climbing, the part of the ride where fork performance tends to take a backseat, the Era's ability to effortlessly smooth out chunkier sections of trail is noticeable. Tip the trail the other way and the Era truly shines – square-edged hits simply disappear, all without using up too much travel.
I'm usually not one to gush, but after six solid rides on the Era I'm comfortable saying that I've never ridden a fork that felt this good right out of the box. I've even switched bikes with a couple of riding partners mid-ride so they could experience what I was feeling, and in both instances the general consensus was “that's ridiculous.”
Yes, the “air that feels like a coil” claim has been made multiple times before, but in this case EXT have come incredibly close to mimicking the ultra-sensitive, plush feel of a coil fork, with the ability to tune the end stroke ramp up to prevent harsh bottom outs.
I'm currently running 65 psi in the + chamber and 100 psi in the ++ chamber on the 170mm version, which is a little bit above what EXT recommends for my 160 lb weight. Conditions have been dry and fast lately – I could see dropping the main air chamber pressure for even more traction, but as it is there's been an impressive amount of grip.
It's the ease that the fork initiates its travel that really stands out. Even while climbing, the part of the ride where fork performance tends to take a backseat, the Era's ability to effortlessly smooth out chunkier sections of trail is noticeable. Tip the trail the other way and the Era truly shines – square-edged hits simply disappear, all without using up too much travel.
It's a unique sensation, and it took me a little bit to get accustomed to the feel of the Era. At first I thought I might need to run less than the recommended 15-20% sag, since it didn't seem possible to have such a supple beginning stroke without bottoming out off the smallest drop or sitting too deep in the travel. It turns out that wasn't the case at all - there was ample support for pushing into corners and dealing with compressions, all while reserving enough travel for the really big hits.
So far I've only had one harsh bottom out, which happened when a huck-to-flat turned to a huck-to-uphill; in other words, not an unexpected result. Since then, I've added 5 psi to the ++ chamber and haven't had any more end-stroke incidents.
How long will the EXT's sublime smoothness last? Will that crown design keep creaking at bay? I'll be continuing to put time in on the Era over the coming months – look for a follow-up report once I rack up enough miles. As it is, the Era is a remarkable debut from the Italian suspension specialists.
Studio photos: Alex Luise
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IMO, the two options for high-end forks now are: the "budget" one, which is the Zeb and the really high-end one, which is this new EXT.
In EU its a similar price to fox 38 factory
As long as a fox 38 kashima is the same money, I'm not quite sure what is the niche you're talking about. From a brand/image pov, maybe yeah; I'm still hoping to have other fork manufacturers join the party and ruin fox supremacy.
or maybe Push will release a fork one day and all of pinkbike will orgasm at the same time
Looking at the structure it should be easily tune and serviceable if tgey have chosen common tools dor those working steps
The pos/neg air chamber isn’t a gimmick. It really does make the fork feel that good.
I went with a Manitou Mezzer after selling my 36 with runt, and I couldn’t be happier. There are def other options out there
Rockshox and Fox forks will be around for a very long time .
If by average you mean beginners, then maybe, yeah. But any rider that has 3-4 years of trail riding behind him will feel diferences in how a fork performs.
In this market doesn't matter who's the best out there in terms of performance, but the best out there in terms of market share.
I cannon prt screen it, but here's the link. It is basically, the same price allover EU.
www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/fox-racing-38-k-float-27.5-factory-180-grip-2-tapered-boost-981667
Rockshox pricepoint, cheap used availability, and herd mentality will keep status quo.
-Doesn't matter if in reality one fork is fractionally smoother/better than another-they all work well enough!
I currently own a Fox 38 Factory and don't think it's all that great-works just fine and is shiny!-this and resale value is why I bought it.
-To date..Manitou Mezzer is the overall best feeling, easiest fork to set up I've owned.
So, by your own admision, you brought a fork for show-off. On this train of thought, you should buy the full rainbow axs, 52 cogs, obviously, latest enve wheels and cockpit and, of course, a kashima dropper to match.
Don't get me wrong, I love high performance parts and I'd buy/I am buying everytime the highest one I think I need, in relation with how the part is going to be used but, there are some components which are useless from a usability pov, unless you are very rich, case in which it does not matter. Me and probably a lot of PB users/readers cannot build show/exposition bikes with the highest bling; I mean, I/we can but we won't, as we value riding over looks. If mtb-ing is another hobby option after helicoper rides, track days in aggeras and yachting in the caraibes, then good for you men, you have reached success in life and I aplaud you. But, for most of us, spending 1600 Euro on a fox, when I can spend 900 on a Zeb and the rest of it I can put it towards a better frame or a better wheelset or even half the money for one week in Austrian Alps, yeah..for me, and probably for a lot of us, not getting a fox 38 is a no brainer. If I get crazy and want to spend that amount, well, it will be on a boutique racing fork/shox like ext or fast. But I'm not, as I have said, bikes are ment for riding, not for showing, so I'll stick with my ultimates and spend the difference on other things that add value to my life.
Most people don’t ride mt. bikes as a “sport” , they just like the stability that bigger tires bring and the option of going down a dirt path on occasion in a cushy and comfy way.
I’m one of those riders and my doctor and best friend rides his Mtb to work on the streets , my wife rides a mt, bike , very slowly , the woman across the street uses a Mt. e bike to haul her kids around in a trailer , my son and
daughter in law ride Mt. e bikes to work and to go shopping and none of them could tell you if their front fork is air or coil and if you asked them how do they like the front fork , that would just shrug and wonder what you are talking about . ok i hope you get my point . And YES a sport trail rider WOULD notice even the slightest difference but not the “ average rider .
Enjoy
Similar to how most ppl buy big SUVs but they never get out of asphalt; they just like the higher driving position and greater perceived security.
Cheers.
I'm sure the price will drop, just wait till next year.
It’ll roughly come out to $1750 EU to import a fox factory 38 over to Europe.
1 EU: 1.17 USD, 16% VAT, CA Tax, and w/e shipping cost. You can also go straight to ride fox eu site and you’ll get the same price.
Not outrageous IMO as that would be the cost to import an intend BC or the EXT Era fork over to the USA. Even though USA has a US EXT distribution site, it’s still expensive.
I mainly stick with DVO and canecreek. It’s something different amongst the sea of fox and RS suspension you see at bike parks.
Honestly, I might be cheaper to flight to Cali, convert eu to usd, buy it then fly back. That’s if you are a diehard Fox Fan
I could afford any fork I want, hell, I buy and sell forks like their pastries, but I ride a Shout and a Message.
Regardless, $1750 for a telescopic fork ain’t gonna fly no where and no how.
Not a fox fan. I only liked the X2 but RSses are 50% off when comparing it, without being 50% off the performance. And, like I've said earlier, RS 2021 ultimates forks are so good that I still can't believe the difference from my lyrik 3 years ago or to the two factory 36s after that.
Probably there are better forks out there but, they will not make me significantly faster. I will try the Mezzer at some point as it is basically the same price.
and really cool dudes to deal with!
got my storia v3 from thrm, great experience.
They could have handled it a *lot* better, obviously.
What about service in local shop? How much untypical tool i need for EXT?
Thanks guys for answer. It is pity, Service kits will be nice option.
Not sure about the X2, as I rembember some nuances in damping that I can't find in the super-deluxe but, the lyrik ultimate is effin' outstanding. It makes my former 36s look like some low lvl suntour, it is that good.
Sounds very Italian to me
each fork or shock have their tolerances, inform yourself before judging Mr Perfection.
.. you should have to do with the FOX customer service in Germany.. viel Spaß !!!
He. Rant thevariation on ksc clicks. But that comment was nonsense as on every fork I hade, there were little variations. Other than that ext products are produced veeeery precisely as everythibg that comes from those car sports. We have a german tuner that comes from BMW andhas very high standards on tolerances and their performance goes on a similar level as ext. But no complete damper or fork available up till now unfortunately.
Their golden ride tuning for grip grip2 und rs
Is really great. And they can improve some of your stock forks issues to get better smoothness from the bushings as well
I am 43% scepticism by volume when reading that claim.
This part I am skeptical about, because I've read it hundreds of times and it's never been true. They even admit same in the next year's review, and again, and again.
"Air that feels like a coil."
But Fox creaking stanchions persist with soft fits, it may be because Kashima doesn't like being squeezed in tight?
Todays review on mtb-news. They got a creaking 38's crown but it has been exchanged and fuss free since then.
If you want a creakfree crown take a unicrown design as Öhlins did. Crown and steerer as one part
First thing that came to mind when they unveiled the 38...A heavier 36 that will still need more service interval and ultimately develop a creak.
This obsession with beefing up the stanchions for Enduro bike is just marketing BS.
I own a CC Helm air. more supportive than fox even without volume reduction/spacers. 35mm stanchions so weights less and guess what... IT DOESN'T CREAK.
Just got told by my local fox service center, that once a fox fork goes out of warranty, they cant even give it a basic service without first sending it off to have a creak address by a new CSU install at the expensive of the owner.... bye bye fox
weird....
people use angle sets everyday that have less than precise alignment due to the amount of offset per degree of angle change varying with head tube length, so they sell them in 10mm increments and even then its slightly off, and then people never install them dead on, so its off too
guess what works fine...........
ever wonder why they run on a tapered crown race?
ever wonder why the bearing has a chamfer on the od?
it allows them to handle significant misalignment
dont get me wrong its not ideal to have significant misalignment but the system will tolerate it and will actually wear the headset cup.
Well, black and Kashima are just anodizing... the black gets black dye before being sealed while Kashima gets magic secret.... plain ol MoS2 before sealing.
Shouldn't be a major difference in scratch and flake characteristics.
gfycat.com/threadbaredisguisedbernesemountaindog
Hey well spotted that’s awesome, seems the bushing/dirt wiper seal bulge on the casting inside might be slightly higher?
I finally had a chance to test a 38 back-to-back with the Mezzer. The 38 is an awesome fork. The Mezzer is just ever so slightly better, particularly in the rough steeps.
And yes, the 36 is known to be flexier than its competition.
General consensus among owners is that blows everything else out of the water, but is cheaper so it must be worse, ain't it?
Might have to sell a kidney
And his comments are vastly different to his opinions on the Era.
To be fair, you could buy a high end fork and a set of carbon wheels for the price of the Era
Same with Giant, Specialized, Trek or whatever that outperform SC, Yeti, Intense and other "cool" brands.
Still, I ended up buying a Mezzer to replace the 2020 Lyrik Ultimate RC2 on my Meta. I hung onto the Lyrik "just in case". However it is the Mezzer that is still up front on the Meta and the Lyrik that has been sold off.
All other reviews I could find had only praise for the Mezzer.
well said
But his unit must have been faulty as the Mezzer gets great reviews everywhere else. And my tuner who ist 110 kilos and a bike guide love the Mezzer. Already did some simple and cheap tunibgs and now it is even better, although mine already is that sensitive, that it really lets vanish most chatter on stewo uphills, iffers plenty of traction, support, control and saves your forearms. I would be really interested in the difference of damping performance
I'm glad there are riders out there who are having good luck with the Mezzer - it's great they seem to have sorted out the issues I experienced.
In any case, the EXT Era is shaping up to be a very impressive offering. The more options the better, especially if they perform as well as this one.
I don't doubt he got a bum fork. Manitou flat-out admits they had a bad batch in the first production run. Hell, when I called asking for new seals they just told me to send my fork to the Canadian service tech and he just replaced the lowers without even testing to see if I had issues. I've sent forks to SRAM, Fox and DVO before. SRAM took 3 weeks. Fox lost it twice and took nearly a month and a half to get it back to me. DVO had it for a week. Manitou had it back to me next day. I dropped it off Tuesday evening with the service tech, he had it back Wednesday by noon. Even if I had to ship it to another city it would have been 3 days max. I'm crazy impressed.
That's not to say it didn't have problems, the bushing slop in particular was an issue of varying severity depending on who you asked. I have friends with them that had none, mine was pretty bad and ultimately drove me to try another fork until it was fixed.
I've had 9 different forks in the last 2 years, the Mezzer is one of the best I've tried, only beaten out by the RXF36 M.2 by a slight margin. Yes, it takes some time to get a feel for how the IRT system works, but any 3 chamber air spring (this EXT fork included) will require the same, as it's a different setup mentality from what other brands use. The result is a fork that is more supportive while tracking better, but it does take some effort to dial it in and you have to break out of the mentality you have with traditional 2 chamber air spring forks. Most of the other reviews I've read, either on other sites or from individuals, align much closer with my very positive experiences. The PB review is the outlier.
For anyone that's curious what the hubbub was about, this is the review: www.pinkbike.com/news/review-manitou-mezzer-pro-fork.html.
I will address the 'Manitou superfan' comment, though. I've only owned one Manitou fork in the last 20 years or so, the last one I had was in the 90s. I'm hardly a 'super fan', I just took issue with your review as it contradicted all of my own experiences and lacked detail (even compared to this 'First Ride', which was more detailed than the Mezzer full review was). You also made some claims in the comments (e.g. about 2psi not making a difference in ride feel, when it very much does with the Mezzer's main chamber) that I found incorrect based on the 9 months I spent on the fork (~4 at the time). We don't all get it right all the time, I just was hoping for more detail, but I do appreciate you taking the time to respond to criticism.
Mikes resume far exceeds the however many forks you've all ridden in the last 25 minutes. You also all vary in weight, stature and riding style.
Mike is a great example of a 'control', because he's a constant (or an Virgo, I don't know)
Thanks for the write up Mike, just going to hop into this ice bath and put this kidney in a jar.
So you run too much air pressure and then say the fork doesn't offer as much grip, felt harsh and couldn't make braking bumps disappear.
That's exactly what happens when you over-spring a fork. There was no mention in the article about trying lower pressures. You just wanted the fork to ride higher.
And yes, 1-2psi really does have a noticable change in performance.
If you are riding harder terrain you need to run more compression damping. But you didn't.
It comes across in a review as either uninformed or biased. Perhaps you tried to set it up like a Lyrik (which has no useful compression damping and no HBO). It's hard to know. But you're here still defending poor setup choices.
My fork is a 180mm set at 170mm. Only difference is travel spacers. The pressure chart is 46/73 and I run 40/60psi. 56/84 psi would give me poor traction and a harsh ride but I'd lose all credibility if I wrote that.
If travel is ever possible again feel free to visit and we can go for a ride and talk about suspension settings in real life. I’m pretty sure you’ll see that I know how to set up a fork, no matter what brand it is.
I told you, it’s on the other side!
Fox service is adequate. Manitou is exceptional.
The point is Mike had a somehow faulty Mezzer of the first batch and silly as they were to not communicate with him properly, manitou got a bad review.
BUT these problems habe beem sorted with their QC and this fork just simply rocks. Esoeccially as I now only have done minimal changes to my compression stack. Best fork I have ever used. Maybe that it is even better than the Mezzer but still a Lyrik ultimate and the likes fall behind a Mezzer when you have your setup
Read my post properly, last 3clines.i admitted, it ms well be worse than the era knowing the storia and exts worksmanship, but for half the price I am ok, woth only second best fork.
Where do you know from the avaoanche reaply wirks better, did sou rude both? In the mezzer thread there are some people that rode both and had a rubt as well in their avy fork. Some like the mezzer more. So may be one of them is better in damping hut dud YOU testvmezzer vs avy?
I know a tuner which does tuning wirk which doesn't cist the world and he makes tunings improving the tolerances like RULEZMANcand akready did some stack tuning which improved it further.
The only thing I really think couod bevan improvement is this BOS and Avy used fcv. Would love to get that, too
Seems to be somehow similar what ext intends with their additional shimstack part
So while I have no doubt that the Era has higher tolerances, that alone doesn't negate comparisons with similar products. If anything, these comparisons need to be made more frequently with smaller brands, so people can relate to how the product performs compared to something they are familiar with.
All that said, I was mainly commenting on the Mezzer article and the fact it wasn't really thoroughly fleshed out compared to other reviews.
As I'm used not to relate so much with Mike's takes on forks, I'd be really curious to try it for myself though.
Here's a similar air sprung fork with graphs and illustrations,
www.pinkbike.com/news/manitou-mattoc-pro-2-review-2016.html
If you look at boundary limits, you could start with + and ++ chambers at same pressure, which would act like a fork with no volume spacers and it would behave like a single chamber throughout the entire stroke. With very very high pressure in the ++ chamber, then it would behave as if it has one large volume spacer (i.e. the + chamber never reaches the ++ chamber during compression).
So there is potential to tune for significant small bump compliance without as much ramp-up as you get when you pack a fork full of volume spacers.
Interesting question.
@velodonata:
Now I see it. Thanks
The issue is that the entire steerer tube would become part of the forging, which triples its size. You then have a massive amount of additional machining to deal with.
Probably it is the best solution from a manufacturer point of view,solving the creaking thing not making a machine crown&steer tube.
You have a ton of bonding area.
But if they really took the castibg of tge x fusion trace, than they could have taken their Uni crowndesign, too. X fusion offered a trace 29 with a steerer crown one oieve unit, too. Thus they could implement that also and save some weight by that, too.
This design put all the load mostly in the crown,not in the meeting point of the crown-tube. It seems like more surface to support each other.
That is what I think is key
A single piece CSU would probably cost well over 3x as much as a press-fit assembly.
All they need to do is tighten up their fits. Some are soo loose that fork tubes can walk out the crown if caps get loose!
I just got mine. You're absolutely right. This fork is good. It's not revolutionary but it's an evolutionarily leap from Fox/Rockshox/Push/Avalanche etc.
Initial sensitivity is like coil rear shock while you have good support like Fox Air shock. It has magical damping feel like Storia. No need to custom tune my damping for my lightweight out of the box.
It's not that expensive considering I have to buy Fox 36, Runt, Custom Damping to get it somewhat close to where EXT is.
Pretty clever air spring as well. The integrated coil spring reminds me of Manitou MARS spring on my Tower fork.
Still too $$$ for me. Installing that fork would double or triple the value of any one of my bikes.
The challenge with mid-valve is to get enough flow through it to not spike on fast impacts. A smaller piston (relative to shaft) reduces flow volumes and makes this easier.
Big rebound/mid-valve pistons are harder to make work. If they produce too much damping force at higher speeds then they suck in oil and air via shaft seal. Which means you need a vent hole at the top to let the excess oil and air back out. Which is exactly what Fox/Marzocchi have with GRIP.
I know how tribal this stuff gets though.
Just curious how much better the EXT is for ~1500 euros vs 899 for the DVO or Helm.
So I came into the first impression rides with pretty high expectations. Bottom line up front: Out of the box this is the most promising setup I have ever ridden. Period! The amount of control and traction are noticeable higher than what I have ridden before. Only followed by the DHX and 36 with Push upgrade. Another very noticeable thing is how high the ERA stays in its travel. Initially I thought that I had done a mistake during the setup. I had to stop and check - it’s that prominent and hard to describe when you haven’t ridden the ERA! Nevertheless I was able to use almost full travel. Really amazing. But the best thing is, that this doesn't jeopardises the small bump sensitivity.
The whole finish is really superb. All dials have well noticeable clicks. The crown construction makes a really good impression. Especially braking feels pretty good. No creaking so far - something I can’t say when talking about my 38.
Just a few words to the shock: The overall adjustments are more incremental compared to a FOX shock, but due to the customisation to bike & rider one has the opportunity to really fine-tune the damping. Furthermore this leads to a useful bandwidth of clicks. I.E. you don’t have the far too slow or far too fast settings.
I know that this are descriptions we all have heard before, but as soon as you’ve ridden the shock & fork combo one will understand. Really promising!
Last but not least I also enjoyed the overall package that comes with fork and shock. A second coil spring, shock pump, special lubrication and nice documentation rounds the package.
I even tried to get my Storia customized for me when I bought v3, and was told “no” (essentially it’s tuned for bike (G1) and they thought that was sufficient).
You are right though, I won’t know unless I try! Maybe they nailed the stock tune for my weight, bike, trails, pedal choice, riding style, and height?!
I get your point.
But honestly, does craig really consider that much parameters?
2. It does not change that when the other fork does not have good tolerances and the only super part is the avy cartridge, it will not be on the same level as the era.
PS custom tuning is "only" shimstack Tuning anyway. That is nothing impossible or time consuming to do this on an ifp assisted cartridge .if ext should not offer that on an 1600 eurk fork.
But that would be a bummer at that price tag, I admit
But you as well besides two posituve chambers the drcv as few in common with a floating piston using Awk and the likes. When the first chamber comoressed part opened the second chamber and fomnected both whicch took out the progression and let it kack even more midsupport as suddenly there was one large chamber without dynamic size, referring to the secobd chamber. Besides the second chamber did not have a 1.5 - 2.1 higher pressure than the main positive chamber but a similar or same oressure to the first one which eid not help the performance neither. Those forks dove very strong
It is not a good middkeway, it is simply far hetter and superior to tokens that only rise the end progression until it rises in earlier parts of the stroke and you earlier start to hit the endprogression wgich is rather harsh and not really comparable e to the more linear double air chambers, not in theory and especially not in real life ride feel. Tokens are the more simple and worse version of awk etc
This guy .... Serious h***on for this fork ....
Gets upset when someone challenges it .... As I noticed in another subthread.
From what I can tell .... There are far better options, that also have way better access to great customer service.
And price! .... Yikes ....
Mezzer is the best .... Fight me.
As others have said.....looks a lot like the internals of a Manitou , just at triple the price.
p.vitalmtb.com/photos/stories/2020/07/28/max_Photo_17_338708.jpg
I've also never had a creaking CSU out of (lemme see here...) 4 Fox CSUs, even a Float 32 that ran at 150mm for most of its life (now down to a reasonable 120mm on a hardtail). If I count my usual riding crew, we're at 0 creaks out of maybe 15 forks that I can think of.
Fox has sort of kind of acknowledged, if you take replacements under warrantee as an acknowledgement, that there has been at least a minor issue with tolerances at some point, but it's obviously not as big a deal as some people would have you think.
150mm : 562mm
160mm : 572mm
170mm : 582mm
ERA fork
£1,590.00
Good talking this stuff thorough though