MRP Ribbon Coil & Hazzard: The Ultimate Coil Combo

Press Release: MRP

Pull up your high-wasted jeans because coil suspension has officially joined them on a resurgence. But this ain't the heavy, old-skool, pogo-stick coil suspension of yesteryear, MRP's latest forks and shocks blend the latest in spring and damper technology with all the inherent benefits of coil-sprung suspension. There are several significant reasons why coil suspension may be a good fit for you.

You young whippersnappers can be forgiven for not knowing all the great reasons many riders are die-hard coil freaks. All we've heard for the last decade was how great Company X's new air-spring was, and in touting how great it was, what did we constantly hear? "The new Airy-Air-Double-Air-Air Spring™ delivers COIL-LIKE performance!" Did anyone stop and wonder why if the holy-grail of air-spring performance is a coil-like feel, why didn't we just use coil springs?

Like Big Oil and Big Tobacco, the Big Air lobby has pushed air-suspension on you for their own benefit; because it's easy to setup and easy to stock, not because it's necessarily better. Second, somewhere along the line we consumers started to count grams, not necessarily around our waists, but definitely on our bikes. When a spring alternative to coil came along that literally weighed nothing, we swooned. Finally we could execute that long-travel, sub 25 lb. dream build that wouldn't necessarily survive a week at Whistler, but looked like it could. But we're not here to slag on air suspension, it's honestly gotten very good in the last decade. Instead, we'd like to discuss what makes coil the go-to for a growing number of enduro racers, core riders, and suspension nerds.

Benefit #1 -Suppleness
Primarily as a result of the reduced seal count compared to air-spring systems, coil suspension tracks the ground and moves freely with hits big, small, and very small in an almost indescribable way. This responsiveness has the benefit of reducing fatigue on your wrists and arms. If you want long days in the bike park, running coil front and rear will save you on the arm pump and wrist soreness. Performance-wise, if you envision yourself cornering with the finesse of your favorite pro rider, coil gives you the mid-stroke support and increased traction to rail those corners. The sensitivity helps keep you planted and poised in rough terrain.

Benefit #2 - Durability
Coil is simple and straightforward with less to maintain. It doesn't give you a pass to defer maintenance altogether, but another benefit of that reduction in seals is a longer service interval and a slower degradation in performance between servicing. If you’re one of those people who easily forgets about suspension service, running coil buys you some time. Maybe you're a shop mechanic that works on everyone else's stuff all day, the last thing you want to do in your free time is work on your own. Coil suspension can deal with a little neglect without throwing a fuss and without punishing you.

Benefit #3 - Consistency
Air suspension is sensitive to changes elevation and temperature, coil is not. You've probably experienced your fork and/or shock feeling buck-wild several minutes into a long, rough descent. Much of that is the result of seal friction creating heat, which raises your spring rate, and can lessen your damping. Coil suspension avoids this phenomenon in two ways. For one, fewer seals mean less friction, means less heat. Two, coil doesn't care if it's the dead of winter or the dog days of summer, the spring rate stays consistent regardless of temperature. There's something to be said for never having to mess with a shock pump either.

Benefit #4 - Street Cred
Coil suspension makes you look like a badass.

Want to experience the beauty of coil? Check out these products from MRP.

MRP Hazzard
The Hazzard was inspired by the Hazzard County segment of Moab’s Whole Enchilada Trail; it’s fast, chunky, and it will beat you up. MRP set out to build a shock that would offer consistent performance and control through trails like this. The Hazzard gives you all the benefits of coil as mentioned, plus control over both high and low-speed compression damping, rebound and spring preload. If that weren’t enough, the Hazzard features a low-speed compression switch, the Shred Lever, that firms up the shock so you can climb back up for more.



Ribbon Coil
MRP is all about offering choices. Knowing that every rider is different, and riding different trails, the Ribbon line of forks provide a number of personalized options.
The Ribbon Coil marries all the advantages of coil with the latest in chassis and damper technology. Add to that the popular Ramp Control feature, and you get a coil fork that’s ready for wherever you want to take it.


MRP Progressive Spring
An MRP exclusive, our Progressive Springs are the only non-linear shock springs on the market for trail and all-mountain/enduro riding. Progressive Springs increase in rate late in stroke to provide additional bottom-out support and open up the use of coil shocks on frames previously only suited to air shocks. Progressive Springs come in a single free length per rate that fits most shocks from 205 to 230mm.* They accomodate up to 65mm of shock stroke. Thier 1.5" / 38mm ID fits our Hazzard natively and spacer kits are available to use with other makes and models.

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